The fantastical creativity of Jun Takahashi extends far and wide, surpassing the realms of fashion design and scratching the surface of the mythical. The UNDERCOVER studio is filled with examples of Jun’s artistic prowess in many mediums, though is nowhere more evident than in his hobby of doll-making – how he describes the construction of his large-scale diabolical handicrafts, creatures from the depths of his imagination swathed in lace and pearls. Jun calls them his ‘Graces’, the muse goddesses of his very own UNDERCOVER mythology. The dolls sprout multiple arms, furry heads, light-bulb faces and bizarre animal body parts, though remain awkwardly feminine in their form and dress, often wearing luxuriously fabricated gowns in pale neutral tones. The Graces are an intrinsic part of the UNDERCOVER aesthetic, iconic symbols of Jun’s vision – stripped of the commercial and human restraints of fashion. 

Five of Jun Takahashi’s Grace dolls were photographed by Yasutomo Ebisu for A MAGAZINE CURATED BY JUN TAKAHASHI, pages 103-113. 

Jun Takahashi will be performing a LIVE doll-making session at Pitti Uomo, Florence, on June 18th, 2009.

Below is a short film-clip of another dollmaking session at “The Sound and the Fury” exhibition in Hiroshima, Japan:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZpjujGmVdE[/youtube]