Seditionaries was the name of an iconic clothing like between collaborators Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren.
Its admirers and adherents were often moved to design punk garb of their own, and few were moved more than Jun Takahashi, who absorbed the lessons of the line and used them to create his own cult label, Undercover.
Takahashi and his friend and collaborator, Hiroshi Fujiwara, also scoured Tokyo for vintage Seditionaries pieces, eventually amassing a collection impressive enough that they published it as a limited-edition book
In an interview with Style.com’s Matthew Schneier, Jun touches on his punk roots and reflects on how the mentality of ‘punk’ has stayed with him throughout his career.
What was your reaction to the Met’s announcement that Punk will be the theme of this year’s Costume Institute exhibition? Does punk belong in a museum? Or is such an exhibition a confirmation of what many old punks are fond of saying—that punk is dead?
I didn’t have a particular feeling about the announcement. I think the element of punk has a significant meaning for human beings as one of their means of expression, so I believe punk can proudly belong in a museum as a work of art. I think most people who say that punk is dead have moved into the next step while keeping a punk spirit at their base. The spirit will live on in me until I die.
Looks from Takahashi’ and Fujiwara’s Seditionaries book
In related news, the exhibition ‘From Punk to Chaos’ PUNK: Chaos to Couture is running at the Museum of Metropolitian Art from and open to the public from May 9 – August 14. It explores the roots of the punk subculture through original punk garments from the mid-1970s and recent, directional fashion collections by some of the world’s most renowned designers.
Source: Style.com
