Jun Takahashi's Grace Creatures The Cult Mascot of Undercover Over the Years
Born out of Jun Takahashi's doll-making hobby and interest, GRACE Dolls have been somewhat of a cult mascot for his label UNDERCOVER over the years.
The creatures were first unveiled back in September 2008 for the Undercover S/S 09 ready to wear season and since then were used during several live performances and depicted in various photo exhibitions.
The mix of animal, alien and human results in a fluffy gothic-styled creature with ornate jewellery and bright lighting eyes that fuse both childish playfulness and futuristic yet somewhat Victorian aesthetics.
During his time away from fashion during the past years, Takahashi hand drew his own modern fairytale entitled "GRACE - The Beginning of The End".
This tale is a prequel to the original GRACE photo book that was published in 2009 with the first explaining the imaginative world that Jun Takahashi depicted in his images.
The creatures Grace and Graphie, the main protagonists in the novel, continued to live on after the release of the storybook as Undercover launched the accompanying Holygrace and Holygraphie perfumes in collaboration with CDG.
“The Graces spontaneously come out of me, genuinely, while making clothes is something more calculated, an entire process that requires teamwork. But doing both allows me to keep a balance in my creativity. Therefore, it makes sense to me to have everything linked.”
Jun Takahashi
GRACE Dolls have recently made yet another comeback as they were launched as vinyl figure collectables by Japanese toy manufacturer Medicom Toy.
