Undercover’s womenswear presentation at Dover Street Market Paris was a captivating blend of everyday wear and fetish-inspired details. As guests filed through the courtyard, past the chair avalanche installation by Tadashi Kawamata, anticipation built for the collection’s reveal.
Downstairs, a group of mannequins displayed recognizable garments: a white hoodie with black leather leggings, a red knit polo with matching pants, and a white T-shirt dress, just to name a few. However, these seemingly ordinary pieces were infused with an unexpected twist. Every figure wore lace collars and metal leaf or nail headpieces, a recurring motif from the June menswear show. New accessories like gauze chokers embroidered with “KOSMIK WITCH” added another layer of intrigue.
The most striking elements, however, lay within the garments themselves. Banks of parallel golden zippers set in leather strips, linked by leather lacing, and sections of metal-buckled strapping, all created a sense of controlled restraint and defined silhouettes.
Jun Takahashi, the designer behind Undercover, was present at the event and offered insight into his design philosophy through a translator. “The core of Undercover design is usually putting some of his unique taste into daily clothes… adding some fetish-ness, and being able to adjust the size and the silhouette can make daily clothes more sexy and also more elegant,” the translator explained.
This fusion of everyday and fetish aesthetics is rooted in Takahashi’s punk influences, where mechanisms of restraint and control are central to the fashion tradition. He applies these elements to mainstream garments, transforming the familiar into something unexpectedly exhilarating and dangerous.
Following the presentation of these bondage-inspired pieces, guests were treated to a vegan breakfast buffet, providing a playful counterpoint to the collection’s edgier themes. Alongside the buffet, a section showcased non-bondage outfits utilizing needle-punching techniques to create blurred color gradients. These pieces drew inspiration from artist Robert Bosisio’s nebulous dimensional canvases, offering a more subtle and abstract approach to design.
Finally, the presentation culminated in a room featuring four dresses in pink, white, black, and a lemon print on black. These dresses, with their fin-like frilled necklines and hems, were further accentuated by sections of strapping, zippers, and lacing, highlighting the silhouette. Lace-masked and metal-garlanded models twirled gracefully on rotating platforms, creating an image that was both beautiful and imposing.
Undercover’s new policy of staging one runway show per season and presenting the other collection in this format provides a unique and engaging experience. The intimate setting, the presence of the designer, and the unexpected elements, like the breakfast buffet, all contributed to a more stimulating experience than simply reviewing a lookbook.
At the end of the presentation, a question arose: What is Takahashi’s personal daily fetish? With a smile beneath his hat, the designer himself delivered the answer: “a secret!”
