I hurt myself today. To see if I still feel.

In an anesthetized society, have pain become the only way to feel emotions?
This is the question that UNDERCOVER designer Jun Takahashi seemed to be asking through Hurt, his Fall/Winter 2015-2016 collection. Criticizing the glossy ideas of beauty promoted by fashion magazines and mass medias, Takahashi sent to the catwalk models whose faces were covered by plastic masks that forced them into a fake smile. Heavy jewelry and glittered decorations symbolized the modern obsession with bling to flash some kind of pretended status and strongly clashed with the timeless elegance of Michaël Borremans‘s muses printed on some of the garments. Despite its quirky side, UNDERCOVER collection showcased Takahashi’s surgical take on tailoring, translated into sharply deconstructed suits and outerwear that came in a mash-up of sheer, denim and silk fabrics, highlighting the designer’s skill of blending unexpected textures. The conceptual research on self-destruction as a way to pursue beauty was initially symbolized by cartoonish daggers embroidered on the front of lab coats, eventually turned into harmful embellishments made of shards.

And you could have it all. My empire of dirt. I will let you down. I will make you hurt.