AW19 Undercover ‘A Clockwork Orange’ Alex Graphic Coach Jacket

For Jun Takahashi’s Autumn 2019 collection, the Japanese designer referenced Stanley Kubrick’s 1971 film ‘A Clockwork Orange’. Set in a dystopian England, the movie tells an elaborate first-person account of Alex’s (Malcom McDowell) run in with state-sponsored psychological rehabilitation. Having been admitted after getting high and engaging with “a little of the old ultraviolence”, i.e bludgeoning a lady to death, he submits himself to behaviour modification to regain his freedom. Returning to the world defenceless, Alex is conditioned to detest violence while ultimately becoming the victim of his own victims. The underlying narrative speaks to the conflicts behind the individual and state, punishment of juveniles, and corrupt possibility of redemption in today’s society.

 

Debuting in look 18/58, this coach jacket features a still from the height of Alex’s aversion therapy. Dowell’s eyes were repeatedly anaesthetized so the actor wouldn’t suffer in use of the eye-prying specula, but would ultimately fail, scratching his cornea and allegedly leading to temporary blindness. Nonetheless, Kubrick would eventually get the shot, in which Alex is forced to watch harrowing footage of sex and ultra-violence as he pleads for help. This harrowing image is plastered atop the down-fill coach jacket, encompassed with vibrant hues and ‘A Clockwork Orange’ lettering on the chest and underside. Tagged as a size large, in pristine condition throughout.