DALLAS, May 7, 2007/ FW/ --- Japanese designer Jun Takahashi, the creative mind behind the label ‘Undercover’ reversed the current trend of ‘being organic but looks high-tech’ to ‘high-tech but looks organic’ with his Fall 2007 collection unveiled in Paris last February.

While other houses are publicizing the fact that they are using eco-friendly fabric, Takahashi used ‘smart fabrics’ that actually controls the temperature, i.e., it’s cool during the hot summer months and warm during the cold winter months.

Developed under the auspices of NASA, together with other space agencies around the world, this ‘smart fabric’ has been available commercially for sometime. In fact, the uniforms of the U.S. military deployed in Iraq had been constructed with one of the varieties of these smart fabrics.

And, if you are into sports, chances are one of your gears has a type of smart fabric incorporated into it. But, though this high-tech material is already being used extensively in sports brands, very few high fashion houses have experimented with it, one of them being Undercover.

Jun Takahashi’s take on the use of smart fabric is unique. While others highlight the fact that it is high-tech, Takahashi downplayed it and created pieces that look like they were made of natural fiber such as cotton knits, wool, chiffon and silk.

Knitted short and pullover sweaters, skiing gear made to look like a jogging suit, two-tone tubular dress with turtlenecks, quilted shift dress and coat, a trench coat in nylon and cotton knit, the look is futuristic without looking sci-fi.

And actually, if NASA would allow it, these clothes can easily be worn in a space shuttle mission, i.e., when the astronauts are already in space and not wearing their space gear. Unfortunately, NASA looks more for function than fashion, though the ‘jogging suits’ would actually be a good addition to the minimal set of clothes that astronauts are allowed to carry on board.

Whether NASA allows it or not actually does not matter. Undercover’s Fall 2007 collection will fly off the shelves as they are, because truth of the matter is that consumers appreciate a combination of good tailoring and high tech materials, and Undercover has both of them.

Undercover

Undercover

Undercover

Undercover