Undercover x Silly Thing | The New Mutation

In the early 1990s when UNDER COVER was first launched, Jun Takahashi created his own version of sneakers based on the Converse Jack Purcell. Printed with ‘UNDER COVER JUN TAKAHASHI’, it is one for the most popular and classic items in the UNDER COVER collection.

To celebrate the launch of the Hong Kong shop, UNDER COVER designer JUN TAKAHASHI and TK from SILLY THING resurrected the item in 2006. When the two were discussing about releasing a special item for the Hong Kong shop, TK suggested that they re-launch the UNDER COVER Jack Purcell. The original shoe mold was already lost by that time, because they were not producing the sneaker anymore. The two, therefore, had to recreate the mold from scratch to resurrect the authentic shape. Takahashi suggested printing the words ‘WE MAKE NOISE NOT CLOTHES’ from the ‘Arts & Crafts’ era instead of the original on the shoe front. The UNDER COVER × SILLY THING‘JACK PURCELL’ was extremely well received in both UNDER COVER Tokyo and Hong Kong shops. In response to the positive reception, UNDER COVER then launched different versions such as the Canvas and Polka Dots models, which also flew out from the shops in no time.

In 2008, Takahashi and TK want to re-discover this item, this time with the fake Mickey Mouse character taken from the Seditionaries (the former Vivienne Westwood shop) during the Punk era. The new model sees the ‘big foot’ proportion, widening the original by 3cm. ‘UNDER COVER JUN TAKAHASHI’ is printed on the front of the shoe, channeling the classic UNDER COVER aesthetic.

The second generation of the SILLY THING × UNDER COVER ‘JACK PURCELL’ has become an independent item on its own, an original item co-created by SILLY THING and UNDER COVER. Due to the unusual proportion of the shoe, there were many technical issues throughout the process concerning the material, cost and shoe structure. At times the collaboration was nearly terminated because of these issues, but after 18 months of non-stop development and testing, the 2008 version of UNDER COVER × SILLY THING ‘JACK PURCELL’ is finally done.

Here we give you a detailed look at both colorways of the new sneaker. The back heel features the Silly Thing logo.

More images of the Undercover x Silly Thing Jack Purcell follow after the jump.