[One To Watch Out For] Undercover A/W 2009/2010

"All these constructions and the laws connecting them can be arrived at by the principle of looking for the mathematically simplest concepts and the link between them."- Albert Einstein

You have got love winter, it’s a perfect excuse to hide and hibernate away from the world. It’s a chance to wear thick fabrics, dark colours and not give two monkeys about what you’re wearing. But with emerging designers like Jun Takahashi, its does however prove that the anti-fashion appeal of winter could be quite fashionable. With his new Menswear collection for Undercover A/W 2009, he puts a stylish spin on function. Stylish being quite technical and scientific. He utilises fabrics used at NASA,one of the fabrics used traps body heat when the wearer is indoors and expels it when the wearer moves away to a colder environment. Describing the fabric itself seems quite formulaic resembling the rules of a scientific theory; he definitely listened to his Physics tutor. Takahashi’s silhouette for the collection range from capes to puffer jackets. The capes were made of thick wool in autumnal rustic orange dégradé blends, grey, blue and black. The capes conveyed a mix of Sherlock Holmes and Batman, it’s as if you could fly, ski and raid a bank at the same time with the neck balaclavas. Knits were constructed into long jumpers and sleeves on long sleeve full length double breasted coats. Wool was manipulated into an array of pieces and detailing, proving that Takahashi’s design approach focused on construction and development of his pieces. Takahashi also embraced the winter trend of “Sports Chic”. Adding tight figure hugging joggers that could look amazing on a perfectly plump exercised bubble- like gluteus maximus.Chavs would be caught dead in a pair of these joggers, but after seeing this collection I see why Chavs love wearing a pair of joggers, comfort, softness and warmth.Takahashi adds a pinch of rock’n’roll with a biker jacket in a shocking blue with shoulder zips and pocket zips. Shoes resembled ski boots turned into high tops with thick wool padding and Velcro strapping. Ugg boots with gladiator sandal strapping, basically. The collection combined Tokyo street style, ski chic and rock’n’roll into a techno avant garde soberness. What this collection has is innovation and intelligence; I hope to see more from him as he transforms menswear.