In a season when the collision of the natural and the synthetic—and the inconvenient truth of global warming—seem to be hanging out there on the periphery of fashion-consciousness, Jun Takahashi has been quietly thinking things through in his own intelligent way. "You can t tell whether a winter s going to be warm or freezing," he rightly observes. So now he s adapted NASA technology for the inner cladding of flimsy coats: His lightweight furs with climate-sensitive linings keep the body cool in heat and snug in a cold snap. He s also added waterproofing techniques to knits and wool coats designed to cope with the violent unexpected downpours that are increasingly part of everyday life.
Still, Takahashi isn t making any heavy apocalyptic weather of all this. True to the name of his collection, the content is mostly kept undercover, a secret understood only when you get up close. Outwardly, it s more about the clever and charming way he manipulates sporty knits, like gray jersey tracksuits, shorts over woolly tights, marled sweaters, knitted dresses with sheer yokes, and a cardigan dress made from quilted silver satin. For Undercover followers, there s still a signature subversion going on (check out the razor-blade paillettes at the end), but this collection is broadening its appeal from being a minority-taste art cult to something that is playfully accessible in an unusually smart way.
