Undercover x Uniqlo

[homme.homme]

How about it eh?

[78]

great possibilities... but I'm a skeptic

[okonomi]

Anybody translate?

[Vampyrvargfesten]

Anybody translate?

[conqueror]

fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.

[bill]

came in to post this.

i think it's gonna be good. clothing inspired by the recent collection where simplicity and functionality are the main ideas behinds jun's work?

[Vampyrvargfesten]

less but better

vent hole

[WillKhitie]

vent hole everything.

[Desi]

well the Undercover fall/winter 2011 was sick so I hope for more sick.

[Augustus]

heattech vent hole combo breaker

[scitsilyts]

just had a nice long chat with my wife who grew up here in japan as a big fan/buyer of undercover in the late 90s/early 2000s...i haven't seen her so opinionated about anything else in a long time. although uniqlo seems to have done a lot out here over the past decade to change their image, their still a mass market/low price retailer that sacrifices quality for price. i haven't lived in the states for a while, but i think that outside of japan, uniqlo is seen as a little more than what it really is...essentially the gap of japan. in every suburban strip mall all over japan and nearly every major train station in tokyo.

the generation that grew up dropping all of their money on undercover back in the day is also a generation that grew up with a negative image of uniqlo....so i guess for people like my wife and her friends, this is pretty disappointing. but then again, as disappointed as they are...they're also not the ones buying undercover anymore. and i guess the new generation are buying based on price, not on quality... not saying it's a good or bad move on undercover's part, but it's certainly a sad sign of what's (been) happening in japan...

[conqueror]

[sawyer]

but i think that outside of japan, uniqlo is seen as a little more than what it really is...essentially the gap of japan. in every suburban strip mall all over japan and nearly every major train station in tokyo.

the generation that grew up dropping all of their money on undercover back in the day is also a generation that grew up with a negative image of uniqlo...

agreed, i've never understood the free pass uniqlo gets on sufu, uniqlo sits next to H&M, gap or land's end in terms of quality. i'm incuding styling as well as construction/textile quality here.

[High Monika]

Uniqloism: For Rebels.

I'm psyched but at the same time, I hated Underman and I can't imagine Uniqlo putting out the futurism stuff from other SS collections. Looking forward to the possiblity of a FW collection.

i haven't lived in the states for a while, but i think that outside of japan, uniqlo is seen as a little more than what it really is...essentially the gap of japan. in every suburban strip mall all over japan and nearly every major train station in tokyo

I disagree, Sawyer, I think Uniqlo a huge step above Gap and H&M (dunno about Land's End). H&M fabrics and construction are so horrible even I can comment on them and I'm an idiot. Gap is... the Gap, I can't say it any other way. I'm not going to romanticize Uniqlo - I was there yesterday and got some shorts for sitting around at home and wasn't really interested in anything else - but at the very least I go in there thinking maybe there's something worthwhile. I go to the Gap once a year because I forget how horrible it is and I don't even bother with H&M, Topman, or Old Navy. Guh.

[conqueror]

agreed, i've never understood the free pass uniqlo gets on sufu, uniqlo sits next to H&M, gap or land's end in terms of quality. i'm incuding styling as well as construction/textile quality here.

personally i have always found uniqlo's quality in relation to price miles ahead of gap and H&M. i only have experience with the japanese ones, but i'm sure they can't differ that much outside of japan.

[hugoagassi]

will be superoverpriced

[amardeep]

•

Edited May 24, 2020 by amardeep

[specimen]

this quote will tell you everything you need to know about the recent direction of Undercover, Jun's reasoning and this collab:

http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/20/now-unveiling-undercovers-jun-takahashi/

A few months ago, you relaunched Nowhere — your first retail experience from about 15 years ago, in collaboration with Nigo — at Dover Street Market in London. It seems that everyone is doing collaborations these days, including Rei Kawakubo with her almost simultaneous teaming with Louis Vuitton & H&M, and now Jil Sander for Uniqlo. What do you think of those?

A.

I find their collaborations far too business-oriented. In the early ’90s, when there was no such thing as a category called collaboration in the fashion industry, I worked with Nigo just because we were very good friends and wanted to create something purely out of interest. We just enjoyed working together without thinking of our activity as business. Under the current difficult economic situation, such collaborations between the big maisons have impact. But to me, they seem to lack a pure intention to pursue something for fun or creativity. In other words, their collaborations are productive only in terms of business. If you ask me whether or not I’m interested in such kind of collaboration, my answer would have to be “no.”

[bryanayrb]

^ im missing the point of that quote. jun's kinda weird, coke zero collab??

i have this really weird feeling we're just gonna see a bunch of UNDERMAN looking shit made by uniqlo

the optimistic side of me is hoping we'll get some techy DRIFIT / Heattech stuff with lots of

jun already has his sporty tech line with gyakusou though so yea. im guessing hoodies, tees, cropped chinos, a simple sneaker and a parka of some sort.

[halomunkey]

^yeh furreal,

Jun says that and then in recent years look at how many "collaborations" he's done.

eh, imo a lot of overthinking is going in this thread. I mean, if it's good ill cop and if its bad I wont.

[ILLuminate]

agreed, i've never understood the free pass uniqlo gets on sufu, uniqlo sits next to H&M, gap or land's end in terms of quality. i'm incuding styling as well as construction/textile quality here.

no way.

next to h&m? come on now. it's not incredibly quality, but to me it's the best value for what they charge. everything i've bought from them held up quite well over the years and looks good.

[mrip]

i think there will be a lot of uc heat tech shit and basicy shit

[DüM]

which is what I'd want out of this tbh.

[homi29]

waiting with measured anticipation

[on-display]

please don't be as hyped as +j

[dranoelsy]

make cheap noise not mass produced clothes

[scitsilyts]

i guess i can't argue quality compared to other mass market retailers like h&m or the gap as i haven't really owned any pieces from them for years and years. however, uniqlo is something i wear daily...whether it be basics like undershirts/underwear/socks for daily use or things like chinos or button ups for work. if i compare price and quality, i honestly can't complain...you get what you pay for (i don't mean that in a negative way). if i buy a 3,000 yen pair of chinos, i expect them to fade and wear out over a season.

however, i think the one thing that is hard to evaluate for people outside of japan is uniqlo's brand image. that, itself, stands right next to the gap or old navy. again, the free pass that uniqlo gets is probably because it's japanese...and it's not in every strip mall in america or europe. it's kind of like how some of the japanese market out here fawns for american/european mass marketers...line-ups for h&m, shops reselling old navy tops... ask the average japanese and they'll be proud to tell you they are wearing h&m. they certainly won't be that excited to tell you about the uniqlo they just bought...

i'm far from an expert on the japanese market, but i've been here for four years. in that time, it's easy to see the reputation that uniqlo holds. it serves it's purpose and that's great. however, it's not something that represents quality, not something that has any bit of cool appeal to it, not something that most would be proud to admit wearing, and certainly not something that seems fit to be collaborating with undercover. although who knows...maybe i'll be surprised...

apologies on the long rant again!

[herpsky]

please don't be as hyped as +j

+J was hyped for like a week in J-land. It died down really quickly. I was copping lots of +J at a local uniqlo for cheap. Thanks to those oh-so-great Sunday deals, I bought some slacks for 3900 yen.

It is pretty interesting how people (especially in NYC) have always been going nuts over +J. I guess it's mostly due to the lack of medium-priced retail stores and labels. There are only two options: supershitty mall brands or haute couture / expensive prep wear.

Since the current contract with Jil Sander is ending soon, it makes sense that uniqlo turned to another well renowned designer.

U pretty much followed the same steps as number nine. Ape, U, and NN were all "streetwear" brands but the latter two decided to take on a more collection/run-way oriented approach in the late 90s.

Fashionsnap says the project will run longer than a DIP but not contracted like +J. It'll run for a couple of seasons for sure.

New factoid:

Undercover, Co. Ltd = Company

Undercover = women's line

Undercoverism = men's line

I had no idea

[78]

interesting to note that +J sought out an international heavy weight from the west. A great way of breaking into the international market. Whereas Jun is well below the radar and very Jap-centric.

Part of their plan all along? hhmmm

Banzai

[jdemotion]

I think along what mrip was saying, that there will be a lot of pretty interesting heat tech stuff that will be cool, but just like +j the outerwear won't be anything amazing.

.

It'd be some pretty funny shit if it rolled out and it was all old UC... patched punk jawns.

But in reality I think everyone else nailed it with "vent holes".