Few collections have left a scar on fashion history quite like Undercover’s Spring/Summer 2003 “Scab.” Jun Takahashi’s Paris breakthrough rejected polish and perfection, choosing instead to glorify wounds, scars, and the beauty of repair. The title set the tone: a scab is the crust of a wound, simultaneously ugly and healing, a metaphor Takahashi translated directly onto the runway.

Rooted in his background as a punk musician and Harajuku cult figure, Scab drew heavily from crust-punk and hardcore culture, lifting imagery and attitude from underground bands such as Sedition. DIY screenprints and patchwork evoked flyers, record sleeves, and the uniforms of anarchic subcultures. Tribal and ethnic fabrics added another layer of collage, making the collection feel like a ritual of reconstruction where disparate worlds were forced to coexist.

The runway delivered this vision through asymmetric patchwork pants, raw-seamed jackets, distressed leathers, and accessories that expanded the punk narrative into an entire ecosystem. Each look carried the tension between fragility and defiance. The finale, where models appeared in flowing, full-body garments reminiscent of burqas, stunned the audience. In the uneasy atmosphere of the post-9/11 world, this closing image blurred the line between fashion spectacle and political statement.

Scab remains a landmark not only for Undercover but also for early 2000s fashion. It proved that beauty could be found in the scarred, the broken, and the imperfect, and it established Takahashi as a designer who could shock, provoke, and move in equal measure.

This pouch carries the spirit of Scab in miniature. Built from a clash of fabrics with contrasting textures and bound by handstitched patchwork, it features belt loops, tribal fabric pulls, and a mix of lobster and round clasps that add both utility and character.