The Many Hats of Undercover’s Beautiful Summer Chaos
Wide-brimmed with a tall crown and “I Am Chaos” embroidered on the side in a scribbly font, Undercover's Pre-Spring 2026 collection featured a stylized cowboy hat in every one of its 36 looks.
It’s a rare thing to see: A brand repeating the same item across an entire seasonal collection. And it’s even rarer to see this sort of product duplicated in every look of a collection.
On foot, anchoring each outfit, a pair of slim-shaped black sling-back mules also embellished with the “I Am Chaos” motif.
These two items — the back-strapped sandals and the hats, pulled down to each model’s brow — bookended every one of Undercover's Pre-Spring 2026 creations.
But while there was uniformity with the headwear and footwear, the rest of Undercover's new clothing showed more range.
The many menswear archetypes founder Jun Takahashi has developed over the three decades of running his brand were interwoven across the collection.
A background evoking a desert at night (paired with those wide-brimmed hats) helped set the scene for a Western theme, adhered to through a denim two-piece. But there was also laidback oversized tailoring, punky leather jackets, and militaristic technical wear that all hearkens back to well-trod Undercover motifs.
Some recent collections by Undercover have stuck to a clear, discernible theme — reimagining its old collections, say, or diving into British countercultures — but that wasn’t the case here. Instead, it was relaxed, baggy-fitting summerwear injected with various Undercover-isms.
If you're well-versed in the Japanese brand's output, then the cropped graphic sweater or surrealist artwork will take the mind back to great Undercover menswear from bygone years. And if not, well, then there's still a varied selection of impressively relaxed menswear to appreciate.
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