This Japanese Workwear is for Actual Furniture Designers
Workwear is having a tough time of it. It feels like more double-knee pants and structured canvas jackets are floating around a matcha cafe than an actual job site. The market is oversaturated, which means standing out with a workwear collection is harder than meeting someone who knows their way around a power saw.
It takes a truly novel concept. Something like, say, workwear designed for actual tradespeople? We’d say “imagine that,” but you don’t actually have to.
The prolific Japanese designer Jun Takahashi already did. His UNDERCOVER label just released a new collection created in partnership with Studio Valentin Loellmann, an art-furniture studio in Maastricht, Netherlands, founded in 2010 by German designer Valentin Loellmann.
The idea of making rugged outerwear, pants, heavyweight sweats, and other pieces literally tailor-made to withstand manual labor shouldn’t feel novel, yet we live in a world where it’s okay to release running shorts with a double-knee pant silhouette and fake trompe-l'œil paint spatters. Fashion may have lost the plot, but Takahashi and Loellmann’s collaborative release is blowing us back on course.
The collection was conceived as a uniform for the craftspeople working in Loellmann’s studio, with the design informed by actual visits to observe them. What makes it work so well is that the clothes were built around specific needs, responding to the space's working conditions. Tops are made from durable, tear- and abrasion-resistant cotton duck, and pants feature reinforced knee stitching and extra utility pockets. Of course, this is still UNDERCOVER, so the punk-luxe label’s ethos comes through in a reversible MA-1 bomber printed with Loellmann’s art on one side, plus faded knit hoodies and graphic tees.
This strange world may be filled with DJs and creative directors who want to dress like they know the blue-collar trade, but it’s nice to know at least one designer is still designing for the real ones toiling away.
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