PROFILE
Upon graduation from high school, she moved to Tokyo and enrolled in the stylist department of a clothing college. After working at a vintage clothing store for two years after graduation, he began his career as a stylist. Currently, he mainly directs artist images and brand visuals, and is gaining support for his styling based on his unique world view.
Instagram:@stylist_teppei
PROFILE
After graduating from Bunka Fashion College, he began working as store staff at BERBERJIN®, the predecessor of the current LABORATORY®, and in 2017 opened the select store "offshore" in Harajuku, which he owns himself. He has now relocated and focuses on activities as a gallery. He hooks up with up-and-coming artists from Japan and abroad.
Instagram:@ryoheimatoba
PROFILE
He has worked as an assistant to Takeshi Osumi since he was 15 years old, and has also worked as a designer for "John's by Johnny" and as a rapper.
He has also worked as a designer for "John's by Johnny" and as a rapper. Currently, he produces flower items using waste fabrics from the production process of apparel products, etc., and is working on the brand "THE FLWRS," which aims to create jobs where everyone can work in their own way and to realize a recycling-oriented society.
THE FLWRS" brand, which aims to realize a recycling-oriented society by creating jobs where everyone can work in their own way.
Instagram:@johnnyhiramoto
PROFILE
CIRCLE HERITAGE" is a designer of one-of-a-kind remake items based on the 1970s punk culture and the 1990s Uraharajuku culture.
Designer of CIRCLE HERITAGE, which offers one-of-a-kind remake items and other items based on 1970s punk culture and 1990s back Harajuku culture. He is also the designer of "HYSTERIC BOOTLEG," a collaborative project with HYSTERIC GLAMOUR.
BOOTLEG, and the second version was just released in July of this year.
Instagram:@__syunki__
Four different views of undercover.
-First of all, I would like to ask you about your relationship with the Undercover brand. When did you first learn about the brand?
Johnny:I think he's about two years old.
Target area:You are indeed about 4 years old.
SYUNKI:No, no (laughs). I think it was in the third grade.
Target area:Still, that's fast.
-What was Undercover like from your point of view at the time?
SYUNKI: I have always loved music, and Undercover was the first brand that made me fall in love with clothes because of its close ties to various cultures, such as music and movies.
Also, at the same time I learned about the brand, I saw a video of the "Tokyo Sex Pistols" (a tribute band to the Sex Pistols, for which Jun Takahashi was the vocalist) on YouTube. I was shocked to see a designer doing something like this.
-Such as SYUNKI, he also expresses his respect for Jun Takahashi with his body.
SYUNKI: When I was 18, I got the same tattoo as Shun Takahashi's on my arm, in a different color.
All: Oh~!
-I understand that you were attracted to Undercover because of the brand's background.
SYUNKI: I started out in fashion as a kind of cosplay, trying to imitate the outfits of the rock stars I admired. I saw Undercover as a brand that added details and decorations to create an original view of the world, a brand that allowed me to cosplay in a more fashionable way than anyone else.
The first time I got Undercover clothes was through secondhand clothing rather than through the company-owned stores. 2003 Spring/Summer SCAB had a crust punk theme, which I remember very fondly.
-In that sense, it is similar to how Mr. Jun Takahashi was influenced by Johnny Rotten. How about you, TEPPEI, listening to SYUNKI, who is now 23 years old and has an age difference of more than 15 years from the rest of you?
TEPPEI: Although there is an age difference between the three of us, I think our influences are no different. I was particularly influenced by SCAB as well. I think it was a very significant event for me to be exposed to such creations at a time when my life was going through a major change.
-How did you feel when you saw that collection at the time?
TEPPEI: It seemed to me to be an expression that went one step further than when it was presented in Tokyo, and it coincided with a time when I was excited about how I was going to carve out a life for myself, so I was very much influenced by it. Undercover is a brand that visualizes the attitude of punk by incorporating it into fashion, but of course it is also consistent in its internal aspects. I feel once again that this is why Undercover continues to have an impact on generations to come.
You have been styling for Undercover's second line "Undercoverism" since 2021, and for the pre-collection since 2022. What is your impression of "Jun Takahashi's creations" from a stylist's point of view?
TEPPEI: No matter what kind of item you make, there is always a "Jonio-ness" to it, and you can make it work not only with the design and graphics, but also with small accessory parts and even the slightest gimmick. I feel this greatness every time I come into contact with Undercover's clothes.
-How about you, Mr. Matoba?
Target area: It's already "admiration. I am 40 years old this year, but I still feel like I exist only in magazines. When I was young, I didn't have the money to buy them, and I think it was only when I became an adult that I was able to buy them for the first time.
But the first time I picked up an "Undercover" was when I was a sophomore in high school. One day, I was walking around Harajuku and picked up a crossbow camouflage patterned sun visor. That was my first Undercover.
-It's bad enough that you picked it up, but that sun visor is a famous masterpiece to begin with.
Target area:That's right! So I was really excited. I thought, "The sun visor that Tadanobu Asano was wearing in the magazine has fallen off! (laughs).
Johnny:Isn't that a very good story (laughs)?
Target area:And speaking of "Undercover," of course the clothes were cool, but the community surrounding Jonio at that time was also very cool.
TEPPEI:It's a "NOWHERE" derivative.
Target area:Yes! It was a time when smartphones and cell phones, not to mention social networking services, were not yet widespread, which is why it was so exciting to read magazines and learn from them. I am so glad that I was able to experience the coolness and atmosphere of the seniors in Harajuku at that time in real time, albeit indirectly.
-I believe "Offshore" also carries the "Undercover" archives.
Target area:I have a variety of items, including a swing top collaborated with KAWS and other items from the SCAB period, but I think the sun visor is the best (laughs).
There is also an early series of duffel coats called "UNDERCOVER ONE and ONLY" that were one-of-a-kind. ONLY", an early series of duffle coats that were one-of-a-kind. All of these items have one thing in common: they make you think, "Fashion is fun! I think they all have one thing in common: they make you think, "Fashion is fun!
-What kind of brand was Undercover to you, Mr. Matoba, who lived in the same town of Harajuku?
Target area:From my point of view, he is too much of a legend. I love the culture of Uraharajuku, so much so that I still run a store in Harajuku. However, I am a bit intimidated by Ura-Harajuku, so I go a bit further back and operate in the Ura-Harajuku area.
TEPPEI:But how come it's so close to Undercover's headquarters (laughs)?
Johnny:Really (laughs). It's crazy close!
- (Laughter). Finally, Johnny, please.
Johnny:....... I think you really should have talked to me about this, don't you?
All:(Laughter)
Target area:It is true (laughs) that both SYUNKI and Tec-chan are too rich in content.
TEPPEI & SYUNKI:No, no (laughs).
-You mentioned in other media that the older students who played with you used to wear "Undercover" a lot.
Johnny:No, that's really all there is to it. I'm sorry for being so thin compared to everyone else...
SYUNKI:When did that happen?
Johnny:I think I was in elementary school. I can't name names, but I used to go and stay at my older sister's house who was an actor. I used to borrow clothes and sneakers from "Undercover" and spend my summer vacation riding my bicycle around the neighborhood wearing them...well, that's about it!
All:(Laughing hysterically)
Target area:No, the episodes are too intense!
Johnny:So the brand Undercover has been very close to me since I was a child. After I grew up, my mentor, Mr. Osumi (the late Takeshi Osumi, fashion designer who created PHENOMENON), respected Mr. Jonio and we got along very well. Mr. Osumi and I would exchange items that we both owned from Undercover, and we would go to exhibitions together.
-For you, "Undercover" was "a connection with people who are important to you.
Johnny:Indeed, every item is tied to a memory, and for me, who has loved dressing up since I was a child, I think they have been an indispensable part of my life since then, as they still are today.
Target area:As someone whose first "Undercover" was a pickup, I'm too envious of my surroundings and environment....
TEPPEI:It's pretty precocious (laughs).
