Available here is a t-shirt from Undercover’s spring-summer 2005 collection, “T”, which was heavily inspired by 60s German psychedelic bands and the Krautrock movement. The collection was strongly influenced by vintage band tees, where Undercover made a number of officially licensed tees for German groups like Can, Embryo and Klaus Schulze, and also made up a number of bands, selling these made-up band shirts alongside their reproductions of German band tees. Taking things a step further, they also used t-shirts in many of their pieces, including making jackets and pants out of band tees.
Undercover has consistently been one of the most creative labels out there, but this period, along with their 05aw Arts and Crafts, 06aw Guru Guru and 07aw Earmuff Maniac collections are all considered the pinnacle for Undercover. Unfortunately, the internet in 2005 was not quite what it is today and a lot of these collections have gone undocumented. They were produced in very limited quantities with limited availability especially outside of Japan, and have since become collector’s items.
This shirt is one of the fake band tees from the T collection, in this case The Crouh. Front features a band logo, while the rear has another print and an Undercover records logo (also a first for this season and revisited several times since – Undercover has actually gone on to release some records as well). Designer Jun Takahashi’s graphic sense has always been excellent, and this collection is really where he cemented his reputation.
As noted, these pieces were produced in very limited quantities and difficult to track down even in Japan. Retail was about $160 outside of Japan but get it here much more reasonably, easily the cheapest price around.
Size is labeled a 2. I would say it fits like a slim medium. I measure the chest at 19”, shoulders at 17”, and length 27”. The shirt comes in used, generally good condition. There is a small hole on the rear, bottom-right part of the shirt (pictured), and some general wear but otherwise no tears or stains. Condition is surprisingly good for a shirt that is almost 20 years old. Made in Japan.
Shipping from Japan to anywhere will be $24.