History
ASICS (株式会社アシックス, (Kabushiki-gaisha Ashikkusu) is an athletic equipment company that started in 1949 when Kihachiro Onitsuka began manufacturing sports shoes at his home in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. Asics produces shoes designed for football, running, tennis, squash,martial arts, cricket, golf, wrestling, track & field, cross-training, volleyball, cheerleading, lacrosse, and for many other sports.
Initially the company was known as Onitsuka Tiger, and was famous for their Mexico 66 line of shoes and their distinctive stripes. In 1977, Onitsuka Tiger merged with GTO and JELENK to form ASICS Corporation. Despite the name change, a vintage range of Asics shoes are still produced and sold internationally under the Onitsuka Tiger label.
The name of the company "ASICS" is an acronym of the Latin phrase "anima sana in corpore sano" which translates to "a healthy soul in a healthy body" or "a sound mind in a sound body". Since 2007 there has been a larger emphasis placed on this acronym.
Types of Onitsuka Tiger
Mexico 66
In 1966 Onitsuka brought out the Mexico 66, this has been imortalised Quentin Tarantinos Kill Bill with Uma Thurman. Bruce Lee was a fan of Onitsuka and wore a pair in Game of Death. The Mexico 66™ shoe was launched in 1966 and has been an Onitsuka Tiger classic ever since. These were the first shoes with the famous Tiger Stripes. Over the year it has been produced in a huge variety of limited-edition colourway.
Mexico 66 Version II
Mexico 66 Baja Version
Injection DX
Injection DX - Kill Bill Edition (Only In Yellow)
Fall /Winter Collection
Onitsuka Tiger continues to impress with their new Fall/Winter collection including the Coolidge lo as well as hi and lo top versions of the Seck. Onitsuka experiments with new materials and unique colorways for this well rounded collection. The collection will retail from $115 usd -$155 USD.
Runsparks
Colette
Famed Paris retailer Collete has collaborated with Onitsuka Tiger for this limited edition hi top featuring a star studded print and trimmed with Collete’s trademark blue.
Tokidoki
Tokidoki is a Japanese-inspired lifestyle brand created by and based around the cartoon figures of Italian artist Simone Legno. The Onitsuka Tiger X Tokidoki sneakers stay true to the colorful world of Tokidoki and feature appearances by some of Tokidoki’s most iconic characters, including Adios, Mozzarella, and Sandy. Curiously, a few days ago a pair of women’s boots inexplicably popped up on eBay and sold for $222.50.
Onitsuka Tiger has announced four forthcoming collections (two a year for the next two years) with tokidoki, Italian artist Simone Legno’s colorful world of sprightly characters influenced by Japanese art and culture. This will be an interesting collaboration between a sneaker rooted in Japanese culture and history and an artist rooted in the Italian interpretation of Japanese culture and history.
