Undercover fall 2025 ready-to-wear. By Laird Borrelli-Persson

In my mind, each of Jun Takahashi’s Undercover collections is like a snow globe world in which the clothes and themes change but a sense of wonder, and loss, are constants. This season, to mark his 35 years in fashion, the designer reprised his fall 2004 collection. Not only did he iterate on past designs, but the cast included models who walked in the But Beautiful show 21 years ago, and Takahashi once again collaborated with the French artist Anne-Valérie Dupond, who had made masks, animal claws, accessories, and a patchwork used for the set. For fall 2025, Dupond handcrafted seven pairs of shoes and a memento mori in the form of a skull-shaped bag.

Reviewing the show, Nicole Phelps wrote that it “produced deep thoughts in the audience about the bittersweet effects of the passage of time.” One of the ways it did so was by referencing things with ephemeral beauty; there were prints of flowers and butterflies, a candle flame, and drifting feathers. The delicacy of these references was countered by military-style jackets, some with medals, others with pins that read “Don’t Touch Me” and “Loser,” and Frankensteined patchworks. The limits of  people-built systems are everywhere around us; Takahashi seemed to be countering that by introducing stuffed animals (a symbol perhaps of childhood innocence) and references to the animal world. Independently from each other, Takahashi and Dupond—who had creative freedom—made a bestiary that included majestic fowl, humble songbirds, stuffed bears and rabbits, deer, owls, crows, and spiders. “Our dreams (or nightmares) must be connected,” said the artist in an online exchange. She reads the birds as “speaking of beauty and freedom, in contrast to the gravity of the actual world.”

Dupond’s practice grew out of an attempt to make a stuffed animal as a toy. A review of her past exhibitions and collaborations reveals that bestiaries and mythologies are central to her work, which aesthetically merges baroque flourishes with homespun craftsmanship. “My work draws on childhood—on its wounds, on a desire for repair,” said Dupond, who leaves her stitches exposed. The physicality of her stitching is one of the ways she consciously plays with the idea of “ladies’ work” as something inferior. Together, Takahashi and Dupond helped us imagine a world where the needle was mightier than the sword.

Below, Dupond talks about her practice and collaborations with Undercover, and shares detailed images of the magic slippers she made for But Beautiful.

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Vogue: Where are you from, and how were you drawn into art?

Dupond: I’m from a little town in the east of France called Besançon. I studied art at the university in Strasbourg and graduated in 2000. As far back as I can remember, I have always loved drawing, and it was in high school that I decided to follow an artistic path. I came to sewing by chance during my artistic studies; I wanted to make a gift myself—a stuffed animal—for a newborn. The result, a sheep, was really too trashy to be offered as a birth gift, but an impulse led me to make another stuffed animal, then another, then many others. I never stopped. I made them the subject of my diploma and I started to exhibit them, then I met a gallery owner in Paris and I became an artist.

Can you tell us about your work and materials?

I like to use recycled materials; I find my fabrics at flea markets most of the time. I like them to have a story. I often cut out clothes that have been worn: They are charged with a soul. My work draws on childhood—on its wounds, on a desire for repair. The use of sewing allows me to weave links. Sewing also refers to a feminine tradition. I also use it to humorously denounce the male predominance in artistic works. I like to revisit traditional sculpture with my materials that evoke more ladies’ work than major art. I play a lot with caricature and humor.

Are there stories and symbols and meanings that you focus on?

Mainly animals and humans, simple and vast subjects at the same time. My references are as much children’s toys as figures borrowed from historical sculpture.

How did you come to meet and work with Jun Takahashi?

My meeting with Jun is a bit like a fairy tale. I was a young artist and a young mother, and he knew my work because at the time I was exhibiting in a small gallery in Paris. Every time he came to Paris, he would go to the gallery and buy pieces from me. And one day he wanted to be inspired by my work to design his collection. I was very shy and very impressed when I met him, but he offered me a wonderful creative field. I designed accessories for the fashion show: animal paws, masks, handbags in collaboration with him. Our worlds merged. I owe him a lot.

Do you remember the remit for fall 2004’s But Beautiful show?

Jun told me he was inspired by my work and Patti Smith. The association of our two names still makes me blush! He asked me to create accessories for the show and sent me a lot of different fabrics that were used for the collection; I was free to use my own too. I remember proposing several masks and animal paws. He selected a few for these main silhouettes. I had total creative freedom. I think he himself had chosen the figures of the crow and the owl. The only constraint was to allow the models to walk with them. I remember having a lot of fun creating these pieces. I also created handbags. He asked me to take inspiration from the iconic bags of Chanel and Hermès, and I created one in the shape of a skull too. I also intervened on elements of the decor, by making a huge patchwork that bordered the stage.

And for fall 2025?

Jun didn’t explain anything to me at all! I just knew that he wanted to pay tribute to his But Beautiful collection for the 35th birthday of Undercover. I created seven pairs of shoes, and Jun asked me, the day before the show, to make a skull bag to complete the magnificent golden outfit. He gave me total freedom! I still can’t explain the trust he has in me. It was a great honor and a huge pressure. He provided me with the basic shoes as well as some fabrics from the collection. The only thing I knew was that I had to use a particular fabric for each pair of shoes. I did a first try, and without knowing it, I was in agreement with the theme of the collection, and it gave me confidence for the other shoes. The association of the shoes with the outfits leaves me speechless today.

What were your reactions to the show?

I was overcome with emotion! Firstly, by the beauty and magic of the show, and by the immense pride that I felt. On a more personal level, I was also terribly moved because I had not been able to attend the show in 2004 because I was in labor. My daughter was born the day after the show. My collaborations with Jun Takahashi have a very special emotional impact for me.

Do you think the show talks about the times we are living in?

Twenty years separate the two collections; 20 years where the world has changed, has tipped into terrifying times. Twenty years ago we were younger, inhabited by our own inner torments, but rather spared by our time. We had a playground and any artistic exuberance could be expressed. Today, we have aged (a little bit) and are impregnated by this surrounding gravity. This collection is more “adult” perhaps. But still extremely poetic and disturbing.  Jun Takahashi offers us beauty with elegance, and we all need it terribly.

What upcoming projects are you working on?

I am working on two exhibitions that will take place in Japan this year. The first will be in July, in a magnificent temple overlooking Kyoto, in partnership with the DeRoom 702 gallery. And I have a project with the famous Japanese brand Medicom Toy too.

Undercover fall 2025 ready-to-wear. Photo: Daniele Oberrauch / Gorunway.com