Following UNDERCOVER's recent SS20 show in Paris, Jun Takahashi got together with The Face for an intimate interview. During his time with writer Zainab Jama, Takahashi dished on the collection while also discussing the evolution of UNDERCOVER, his punk origins, and collaboration.

For SS20, Takahashi worked with Amer­i­can artist Cindy Sher­man for a second time. The collab resulted in all-black tai­lored suits and silk pieces emblazoned with prints from Sherman’s Unti­tled Film Stills series tak­en between 1977 and 1980.

"I am a fan of her work, espe­cial­ly her images that express a mix of mad­ness and humor. We’re also friends on a per­son­al lev­el," said Takahashi. "Two years ago we col­lab­o­rat­ed on a women’s col­lec­tion, but this time her work close­ly matched the theme we had going for our men’s col­lec­tion. I also want­ed to wear her work myself."

"I only col­lab­o­rate with those who have some­thing we don’t," he added. "I believe that mutu­al­ly respec­tive rela­tion­ships are the most important. The design process varies depending on the season or the theme."

From there, the UNDERCOVER designer transitioned to his punk influences and his Sedi­tionar­ies book with Hiroshi Fuji­wara. "My phi­los­o­phy of break­ing down stereo­types remains unchanged. Hiroshi and I were long-time col­lec­tors of Sedi­tionar­ies. We made the book hop­ing to give lots of peo­ple the oppor­tu­ni­ty to see the bril­liant clothes that influ­enced us in our ado­les­cence," he said. "When I was study­ing design, I was some­what forced to be in the band. It wasn’t some­thing that I inten­tion­al­ly chose to start."

Lastly, Takahashi briefly touched on the evolution of UNDERCOVER. "It has been nat­u­ral­ly chang­ing along with the flow of my thoughts. Even now, I still have no clue what the future holds," he insisted.

Follow on over to The Face to read the entire interview with Jun Takahashi. Also, be sure to peep our latest piece on one of the world's most influential designers.