Undercover spring 2004 LANGUID : An ice cream melting in the summer heat
Monday 6th October 2003
6PM
Union Centrale Des Arts Décoratifs, Paris
Following a series of concepts developed for three seasons from winter 1998 to winter 1999, this collection will be the whispering bass underneath the legendary But Beautiful series, and was a source of mixed and contradictory emotions for Jun Takahashi and his audience.
Using the principle of AMBIVALENCE, presenting twins in pairs with each girl wearing a garment and its reversible face, the designer is now proposing another approach by presenting a version called "classic", a prototype, and another one, deformed and stretched vertically downwards, creating surprising undulations thanks to the stretchy fibers added to the fabrics.
The word LANGUID is used to convey a feeling of torpor, an almost indifferent lassitude, a lacking of energy or enthusiasm, an unwillingness or inability to exert oneself due to fatigue or physical weakness. It is an emotion that is transcribed by the dripping and almost melted aspect of the garment, like an ice cream under the summer heat, with a gradually decadent aspect, which finally appears to be neglected.
As surprising as it may seem, Jun Takahashi was not at all satisfied with it, he will say that even if the concept was not to design but to distort, it turns out that in the end, it is just the same clothes... slightly stretched... and this same repetition over the presented looks will depress him a little. The number of looks was reduced just before the show, and one could guess the serious and worried expressions of the staff during the presentation...the designer even ran away after it ended !
Perhaps from an external point of view, this tireless repetition perfectly transcribed the concept announced by its title, or maybe the astonishing simplicity of most of the pieces presented have seduced a wider audience, In any case, this collection was against all odds a success, both commercially and journalistically. It is important to mention that is was also the first time where menswear and womenswear have been presented together in the showroom.
The choice of colors and style brings a very special atmosphere to the show, light tones and shades of brown are skillfully complemented by wide clothes, sometimes poorly fitted, floating alongside movements. The models, with golden curls falling on their shoulders, boyish bangs, neglected short cuts or very voluminous afros, wore shirts with faux suspenders decorated with colorful badges, blouses with lacings coupled to light and satin skirts, wide-neckline tops revealing the shoulders with pants almost too big and dragging on the ground, adding the denim jacket and partially closed trench coat, all embellished with santiags, checkered vans, flip flops... or sometimes even without shoes! It gave off a bohemian rock atmosphere with a nonchalant touch of punk, and this little childish drop very specific to Jun.
We must emphasize a particular attention to detail, in the form of clues, which allow us to guess the real guiding force of this season. The badges attached to shirts and jackets (also in pairs, one deformed and the other not), very colorful, have several motifs, some of which are directly drawn from the past spring collection SCAB as the A of Anarchy, and the slogan. We can see some of the strong words, also intrinsically linked to the guiding force of Crust and hippie movement, like VICTORY or IDLE LIFE. This is important to note because the badge is often used as a medium of expression in these sub-cultures. There is also the huge A-shaped resin flower pendant, as well as the same floral pattern used on a sweater, with the mention PEACE BUILDER.
The last looks of the show consited of a distorted, loose white top worn by a barefoot model, eyes hidden by her hair, with phrases painted in black in a messy way : JOIN UP AND BREAK FREE, VILOENCE INVITES VIOLENCE, WHO WANTS TO BE A SOLDIER? OUT WITH THE TRUTH, ONLY PEOPLE CAN GET THROUGH TO PEOPLE,... messages to pass, a will to not surrender, which is reminiscent of the presentation of Burkas for SCAB final (and of the whole collection itself). It is difficult to guess the exact intention of the designer but the link made to the anti-war movement is very important, for peace and against oppression, understandable when we take into account the context in which these two collections were released.
To come back to clothing, all the accessorizing of the outfits was very successful: leather bracelets, bags, rosaries... all were presented with their deformed version. Guitar pick shaped necklaces, used for many collections, were also made from deformed plastic and offered to guests, decorated with a small ladybug that seems to be the symbol of this season, which can be found embroidered on jeans, and which is reminiscent of the famous winter 2006 insect embroidery.
The candid and almost childish side mentioned above lies in the valorization of garments, breaking the process of repetition: One can see a collar trompe l'oeil pattern on tops and dresses mimicking a pair of sunglasses, replaced a few looks later by a real version, it is a collaboration with DITA (giz pattern) and Lloyd (plain) already seen for the SCAB editorials, mimicking itself the model worn by Kurt Cobain. We can also see large printed hands pretending to stretch part of the garment, as well as fake straps printed on shirts, a concept that will be reproduced for the next But Beautiful collection, this time with the tie. The famous marching jacket worn later by Patti Smith would also been presented for spring 2004.
As for the men’s collection, most of the garments have been taken from the women's one, with some designs and motifs directly taken from SCAB with new patterns like the circle or rectangle Giz, as well as scorpions. We can also find the patchwork design of the winter 2003 Paper Doll collection.
Despite a difficult implementation, the spring 2004 collection LANGUID was surprising both by its concept and its nonchalant atmosphere, and opens a door to a much more complex directive force, where clothing becomes a means of expressing a strong opinion, and that's why we love Undercover.
Written by QuorthonDu75