Undercover “78” Destroyed Black Denim 2009 Autumn/Winter “Earmuff Maniac”
Jun Takahashi took two models into a forest outside Tokyo in subzero temperatures and photographed them on a silver "runway" consisting of a few Mylar survival blankets laid end to end. The point—which became clear in a showroom in Paris, where Takahashi talked editors through racks of the clothes—is that the girls weren't cold. The clothes Takahashi designed this time around were a development of the super-technological collection he did for Winter 2007. "I took a break from showing so I could go back and work on it more," he said.
Close-up, the outerwear, in particular, is an amazingly instructive lesson in the possibilities of modern functional design. Takahashi hybridizes biker jackets, puffers, parkas, regular tailoring, and knits to produce lightweight jackets and coats, which are lined with membranes and microcapsules developed for NASA. Some of them absorb body heat indoors and then release it when the wearer steps out into colder conditions. Others will block biting windchill, even though they're ostensibly as flimsy as blazers.

Size 3