Our Readers Name their Favourite Jun Takahashi Colabs
Move over , it’s Jun Takahashi season. Along with shaking the sneaker landscape with his , the Gyakusou and Undercover honcho has just celebrated his 49th birthday. To mark the occasion, we asked our readers which of his many colabs they prized above all. As you’d expect, we were swamped with new fans of the Undercover React 87, but some tastes dove deeper. Check out a selection of them here.
UNDERCOVER x VANS VAULT
Hailing from February 2017, this pack featured two floral and three edgy . The bed of the roses on the former showed through the translucent waffle sole, while the Eras have two lines from Temples’ ‘Shelter Song’ printed on the toe-box.
UNDERCOVER x NIKE ELEMENT REACT 87 (BLACK SAMPLE)
After the Takahashi’s first Reacts showed up on the runway, another made an appearance. Thought to be samples, the pairs never made it to retail, and some people are still missing them.
GYAKUSOU x NIKELAB FREE 3.0 FLYKNIT
This Gyakusou colab is a sleeper from a time when the sneakersock reigned supreme. Two colourways chopped up earthen hues — one of which garnered attention for its Gucci likeness. 2015: what a time to be alive.
UNDERCOVER x CONVERSE CHUCK 70
After Jun’s 87s, these were the next most popular colab from our questionnaire. Pairs have ‘Disorder’ and ‘Order’ printed on left and right feet respectively, aligning with the theme of Undercover's looming collection. A worthy consolation prize to anyone who missed out on the React, these will drop on September 25.
GYAKUSOU x NIKE LUNAREPIC
If we were to hazard a guess, we'd say the LunarEpic is Jun Takahashi's favourite runner. While the individual pistons of cushioning make running on gravel a nightmare (they pinch stones like a robotic arm), they'd be ideal for Jun to run the pristine streets of Tokyo with his Team GIRA running club. He's whipped up a few doozies from 2016–2017, two of which even boasted Nike's waterproof Flyknit Shield tech.
UNDERCOVER x NIKE REACT ELEMENT 87 (GREEN MIST)
Scrolling through responses we were met with a wave of ‘Undercover Reacts’ and a variety of love-heart-eyes and bicep emojis. Among those that took thing step further and specified a colourway, the ‘Green Mist’ reigned supreme. Resale prices reflect this, with the colourway averaging the highest on StockX. If you’ve got around $400 USD burning a hole in your pocket, you can grab your pair .