Onitsuka Tiger
Top 12 in Top 15 Best Japanese Menswear Brands
Onitsuka Tiger is a Japanese sports fashion brand founded in 1949 by Kihachiro Onitsuka's Onitsuka Shkai (now Onitsuka Co., Ltd.), a sports shoe company. Since its inception in 1949, Onitsuka Tiger has produced footwear for football, running, martial arts, basketball, cheerleading, volleyball, cross-training, track and field, wrestling, golf, cricket, fencing, and tennis. The striped Mexico 66 Line is the most well-known Onitsuka Tiger shoe brand.
Asics continues to sell vintage-style Onitsuka Tiger shoes, such as the Mexico 66. Asics' portfolio includes Asics, which focuses on sports performance; Asics Tiger, which focuses on retro and lifestyle sportswear; and Onitsuka Tiger, which has premium positioning and designer collaborations.
Onitsuka Tiger is widely regarded as the inventor of the first running shoes, having founded his company to serve the needs of the Tokyo athletic community. Phil Knight, the founder of Nike, was the first to import these ingenious lightweight icons into the United States in the 1970s, and it's safe to say that every single sports shoe since has had a little bit of the Onitsuka DNA in its sole. Onitsuka Tiger sneakers, still distinguishable by the swooping arcs on their flanks, are an exercise in retro understatement and now come in a truly dizzying array of colorways, collaborations, and textured iterations.
Founded: 1949
Headquarters: Kobe, Hygo, Japan
Instagram: @onitsukatigerjp (190.000 followers)
Website: https://www.onitsukatiger.com/
