In today’s world of highly-polished and mass-produced retail concepts, it is rare to find a gem that echoes a designer and a brand’s identity without seeming manufactured, diluted and a little fake. Whether it is due to factors like an odd location far from a designer’s origins and inspiration, or an ‘off’ interpretation by an architect, many stores are uninviting shells – tempting only with a cold, shiny glamour that lacks emotion.

Jun Takahashi’s UNDERCOVER boutique in Aoyama, Tokyo is a shining example of an individual, customised space filled with intriguing artifacts and interior design that evokes his off-kilter aesthetic and innate sense of the extraordinary. Spanning two floors, he separates mens and womenswear into two distinct levels that divine the disparate sense of his collections – the ground level and its light-globe covered ceiling housing the more elaborate womens ready-to-wear, and the grungy basement floor with the more subdued mens streetwear. The collections themselves play almost second string to the vibrant backdrop, yet nevertheless their rich textural fabrics and warm, dark colour palette play beautifully off the more industrial surrounds.

You cannot turn your head in the space without noticing another discrete example of Jun’s handiwork, whether it is the installation of a Braun radio from industrial designer Dieter Rams (the inspiration for Spring Summer 2010), or a wooden Eames’ chair with its backrest replaced by the anarchist’s ‘A’. From floor to ceiling customers are confronted with exposed concrete with steel frames, barely hiding networks of electrical cables and fluorescent lighting. Fitting rooms belong in a military medical hospital, with thick white curtains and a single wire coat hanger positioned above a simple wooden chair. Photography from the most recent campaign hangs above the dark wooden staircase and in a catalogue sitting on the harshly-lit worktable-cum-sideboard (above).

In effect Takahashi has created a tranquil space, both trademarked yet sparse with overt signatures and logos. Essentially, one must be initiated to know the relevance of each of Jun’s curios, yet without prior knowledge any interested party may enjoy the organised chaos of his world.

Above: the light-globe ceiling of the UNDERCOVER store in Aoyama, Tokyo.

Above: A BRAUN radio designed by Dieter Rams, the inspiration for UNDERCOVER Spring Summer 2010.

Above: A photograph from the UNDERCOVER Fall Winter 2010 campaign in the store.

Above: A sitting area and fitting room below the staircase, on the menswear level.

Above: The discrete front door, revealing the exposed structural work inside the store.

Above: An Eames chair customised by Jun Takahashi.

Above: The ground level womenswear floor of the store.