Undercover’s Collaboration with Levi’s is a Dark Necessity

Jun Takahashi is a product of punk. Growing up, he jammed out to British punk, later playing in a tribute band called the Tokyo Sex Pistols. (You can watch an orange-haired Takahashi, à la Johnny Rotten, belt out Japanese covers of Sex Pistols songs on YouTube.) His passionate performances earned him the nickname Jonio, after Johnny Rotten. Decades later, while punk might feel like a thing of the past, Takahashi’s label, Undercover, proves it’s more relevant than ever.

Teaming up with Levi’s on a 9-piece capsule collection, a jean jacket (punk by nature) also comes in black corduroy and features detachable zip detailing. In a nod to Undercover’s A/W 98 collection, sleeves and collars can be mixed and matched. Another jacket, made from black and white denim, is emblazoned with ‘light’ over one chest pocket and ‘darkness’ over the other, the text also screenprinted onto a pair of jeans. They’re warring words, which echo punk’s anti-establishment attitude

Fittingly, a blue-haired Flea, the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ bassist, stars in the collection’s campaign. Photographed in Malibu by his daughter, Clara Balzary, the musician does a handstand, takes a dip in the ocean, and takes his motorcycle for a spin, feet against the bike’s windscreen — always in his denim, of course. A durability test of epic proportions, proving that the pieces are punk tried, tested, and approved. For the particularly hardcore, it might also serve as a starter guide for aspiring crust punks.

While it might exist in a modified form, punk lives on. Just as the Red Hot Chili Peppers once reinterpreted the genre in their music, today musicians like Yves Tumor, Olivia Rodrigo, and Willow have made punk their own. With this collection, Levi's and Undercover have looked to the past to create something for the future.

The Levi’s x Undercover collection will launch worldwide on 18 January and will be available to purchase on levi.com and undercoverism.com.