Undercover designer Jun Takahashi has been showing keen interest in exploring further than his familiar territory. He collaborated with photographer Katsuhide Morimoto for the ‘Grace’ series in 2009, an exhibition accompanied by limited edition catalogue; ‘Underman’ collection this season is portrayed in a photography series starring Tokyo Electro girl DJ Mademoiselle Yulia and Kiko Mizuhara (as seen in the film adoption of ‘Norwegian Wood’), in the style of Tokusatsu short film.

The futuristic story is set in year 20XX, when human souls are captured by dark power. Undercover superman Underman eventually wins the battle and saves the human race. It shares the same title with the SS2011 collection. With the exception of Underman, all clothing is taken from SS2011 Underman collection. Kiko Mizuhara and Mademoiselle Yulia are, respectively, Kiko and Mashra. Over forty members of staff were involved to pull off this extravagant production – immaculate building models, faux-feather headpiece for Kiko, cityscape helmut for Underman, bird and rose hybrid, jewel mask for Mashra – the exquisite aesthetic reflects Takahashi’s artistic ambition. Thirty-six stills serve as the excellently executed ‘storyboard’ of this story, complete with text and QR code connecting the viewers to the Zozovilla website. This hardback art book is now available at Undercover HKG.

Text: iemi | Translation: dilettante
Edit: Carmen Lee
Photo: Kimio Ng
Update: 2 Mar 2011

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