Undercover's Jun Takahashi Discusses the Importance of Punk to His Designs

He also ventured into how Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McClaren influenced him.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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Punk has dethroned Goth as the new "it" word in high fashion this year. Riccardo Tisci made it clear that his work at Givenchy is inspired by the youthful rebellion movement, and another designer, Undercover'sJun Takahashi, has noted the effect of punk on his collections as well. And we're not questioning him. The man has redefined the running world as something stylish and inspirational to those who have no business being near a treadmill or trail via his collaboration with Nike, Gyakusou.

Style.com interviewed the designer and found how he was first inspired by Vivienne Westwood and Malcom McClaren's Seditionaires collection, and how punk is an idea that is inseperable of his daily work.

"To me, punk means a spirit unrestrained by conventional ideas, a spirit of rebelliousness, nihilism…things like that." Takahashi told the website.

Takahashi was convinced that punk was an undefinable idea, until he found the work of Westwood and McClaren. "Until I encountered the genuine Seditionaries, I had thought punk fashion was just destructive," Takahashi said, "but when I looked at the clothes of the real Seditionaries, I had a tremendous shock, because they were very elegant and sophisticated."

And Takahashi sees punk as an immovable part of his being. He told Style: "It's just fine that people say my collections are punk, because punk is indeed a basic part of myself." 

Click here to read the rest of the interview.

[via Style]

 

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