Japanese fashion brand Onitsuka Tiger continues to present a contemporary collection that combines fashion with sports, and heritage with innovation. Onitsuka Tiger presented its Spring/Summer 2023 Collection at the Milan Fashion Week on Wednesday, September 21, 2022 (9 p.m. Milan local time).
Under the direction of creative director Andrea Pompilio, this was the fourth time the brand has participated in Milan Fashion Week since debuting in Autumn/Winter 2021.
The theme of this collection is Japanese minimalism. The collection expresses the pinnacle of beauty through a subtractive aesthetic that strips away what is not necessary. Pompilio elevates the sporty spirit of the brand and takes it outside of the boundaries, reinterpreting it in a ready-to-wear key: the metropolitan soul is still the same, but the use of fabrics and complex constructions is added.
This collection is defined by details that turn the simplest garments into design objects. All pieces of apparel are made in Japan, with a flowing silhouette, strong in its active heritage, and attention to detail, starting with the embroidered logo with a zigzag stitch, as well as decorative seams on the hems. The body shape is the focus of the creative development and is redesigned with constructions borrowed from Japanese culture. The long drawstrings, for example, transform oversize georgette t-shirts into embossed tops or sculpt skirts of Japanese nylon with pleats that recall the hakama worn by kyūdō archers. The kimono also appears here and there: among the cuts of the long, wide, fluttering sleeves of blouses, or more clearly in the draperies of a logoed beach towel assembled onto a tank top.
The knitwear has sweeping lines, and the brand’s iconic jumpsuit comes in a wide-curved, ultra-baggy version. Still, the urban elements appear in the details of the collection: the light safari nylon dresses can be shortened thanks to the hidden zippers, and the miniskirts, as short as hiking pants, reshape the silhouette with large patch pockets.
Pompilio also puts the focus on the back of the looks that lose their two-dimensionality to acquire unexpected and three-dimensional volume: in addition to the drawstrings that redefine the silhouette, the dresses that can be taken apart, and the jackets that can be worn with capes borrowed from trench coats, the designer introduces little dresses with rucksack-pockets incorporated on the back.
For the color palette, black and white are the narrative, but interrupted by the signature yellow and shiso green, inspired by the bright color of Japanese basil leaves.
Shoes and accessories are also impactful. The iconic SERRANOTM shoes have boldly printed graphic motifs reminiscent of tiger scratches and renewed as the TIRRACKTM model. The Japanese setta-inspired leather flip-flops are made in Japan, and the SCLAWTM and the SCLAWTM MT models, featuring details like drivers, both high and low, are the season’s new shoes: nimble yet high-performing. The baseball cap, mixed with the typical sun shields often used by Japanese people, has a brim on both the front and back and can be worn on either side. The bags embroidered with the logo and the Claw Stripes, inspired by a bowling bag, are available in three sizes, including a micro size.
The special headphones featured in this collection were realized by Bang & Olufsen, a world-class audio equipment manufacturer founded in Denmark in 1925.
