A vast billboard, printed in the brand’s signature yellow and black, hung in the entranceway to the Onitsuka Tiger A/W 2023 demonstrate held in a Milanese gallery in the course of Milan Trend Week A/W 2023. It briefly elucidated the Japanese sportswear brand’s historical past, which commenced in 1949 with ‘the intent of revitalising the nation’s youth through the spirit of endeavour,’ as the signal examine, ‘creating the manufacturer, which completely captures the present day spirit of stamping particular person style above rigid guidelines, made Kihachiro Onitsuka a accurate visionary’.
The Italian designer Andrea Pompilio, who has preferred Milan to show his seasonal collections for the brand because 2021, encapsulates these founding rules with a honed vision that favours the development of a refined wardrobe for all facets of existence around more regular, emblem-hefty sportswear. Situation in position, the collection’s opening four looks, a collection of gently oversized tailoring and double-breasted overcoats, the perception of sportswear captured only in their perception of relieve (the men’s and women’s fits, for instance, experienced trousers cut with the expansiveness of sweat pants).
Onitsuka Tiger A/W 2023 runway
(Impression credit: Courtesy of Onitsuka Tiger)
Pompilio claimed that this year he was imagining about the concept of ‘urban layering’, tracing a link to the brand’s roots with an exploration of the kimono – albeit reimagined in the designer’s small design and style. ‘Dressing in layers is a central part of Japanese tradition,’ reported Onitsuka Tiger of the selection. ‘The act of wearing a kimono is element of a ritual done by superimposing garments of various weights, from the really mild underwear to the genuine kimono, which are then closed by a broad belt.’
As this sort of, the collection’s appears typically commenced with a slick-to-the-entire body base layer – reminiscent of regular underwear, like the extended john – more than which different clothes had been layered for a deft perform on proportion. Just take a wide padded overcoat, manufactured in collaboration with Zanter, a groundbreaking down dress in brand from Japan which has been in organization since 1956 (befitting Onitsuka Tiger’s roots in efficiency-have on, Zanter’s jackets have outfitted Antarctic explorers given that the brand’s conception). Other people appears to be like had a experience of class: a subtly sheer chiffon shirt dress worn above a black entire body fit, cocooning nylon overcoats, and continuing riffs on outsized tailoring in smooth shades of grey (‘another fashionable excellence from Japan’, explained the brand name in reference to the plays on the match).
(Impression credit score: Courtesy of Onitsuka Tiger)
Footwear – for which the brand name is most likely best acknowledged, its legendary Mexico 66 sneaker now acquiring a avenue style resurgence – spanned leather-based boots and chunky sneakers with futuristic moulded soles. The latter have been emblazoned with a new symbol, which sees ‘Onitsuka Tiger’ published in a bold font in signature yellow and black – a symbolic expression of Onitsuka Tiger’s continuing evolution, above 70 years considering that its founding.
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