Onitsuka Tiger’s Mexico 66 is a trailblazer that continues to evolve. The latest vision for the sneaker comes from Rei Kawakubo who has creating four customised designs within a capsule collection for the Onitsuka Tiger x Comme des Garçons pop-up shop collaboration. In Kawakubo’s reinterpretation, the 66 is jet black and paint splattered; embellished with swirling gold circles; black with chunky logo-stamped laces; or hazard sign yellow and black with a buckle at the back. The designs are fresh, new, slick. But the striped leather overlay on each side of the shoes, even when partly concealed, is unmistakable – the mark of a Japanese sneaker legend. 

Legends, of course, have to earn their stripes. Onitsuka Tiger’s Mexico 66 was first worn by serious athletes and Olympians, before enjoying a resurgence as cool and covetable when appearing in the movie Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (although technically, the shoes worn by Uma Thurman were the Tai-Chi’s not, as most assume, the 66). And since around 2023, they’ve been sported by the likes of Hailey Bieber, Kaia Gerber, Addison Rae and Olivia Rodrigo – even Prince William has been seen kicking it in a pair of 66. 

As the Adidas Samba reaches saturation point, some believe these retro kicks, beloved not only for their stylish slim profile but their comfort, are set to slide into that slot. Time will tell, but with the brand repositioning itself as a luxury lifestyle house – it relaunched as a fashion brand in 2002 with creative director Andrea Pompilio smashing it in Milan this September with his SS26 ready-to-wear collection – it is the premium, artisanal “Nippon Made” models showcasing Japanese craftsmanship that most will covet, even if they are twice the price. The four Comme des Garçons collab designs, launched under the celebratory name “Holidays with Onitsuka Tiger” are priced from ¥28,600 to ¥51,700 (around £138 to £248), but are only available until 28th December in select stores in Japan, and elsewhere you won't find them anywhere other than the Paris and New York flagships. Only a select few will own them! 

Onitsuka Tiger has a rich heritage to preserve. Its story began in 1949 after the Second World War, during a period when Japan emerged from the conflict suffering from widespread devastation and starvation. Its youth faced a bleak future, which so impacted ex military officer Kihachiro Onitsuka, he decided to do his bit to restore morale through sports – his way of restoring what he called “a sound mind in a sound body”.

Having no experience, but realising most sports required suitable shoes, he began with a basketball shoe. He was experimental, and found inspiration in the form of an Octopus’s tentacle, creating a shoe with sucker-like soles that acted like suction cups for better grip on the court. Onitsuka subsequently turned his attention to Marathon runners, creating a shoe cooled by air flow to prevent blisters. In 1951, Shigeki Tanaka, a Hiroshima bomb survivor, became the first Japanese winner of the Boston Marathon – he wore Onitsuka Tigers. Significantly and maybe symbolically, this was also the start of the  “Japanese economic miracle,” a period of unprecedented and rapid growth for the country.

The shoes gained recognition with athletes worldwide and in 1966, as all eyes turned to the Olympics in Mexico, the Mexico 66 model was released, featuring the famous crossed stripes for the first time. The leather overlays were not merely decorative but reinforced the upper giving the shoe stability and support. 

It was the yellow-and-black version, however, that made the leap to cultural collectable when martial artist and actor Bruce Lee appeared in a yellow jumpsuit wearing the sneakers in the movie Game of Death, which was filmed  in 1972, and released posthumously in 1978 after his death in 1973. Film director Quentin Tarantino paid homage to Lee in his 2003 film Kill Bill: Vol. 1 when Uma Thurman, aka, The Bride, stepped out in an almost identical outfit – and sneakers.

The 1970s was a time for change for Onitsuka Tiger – and one when new sneaker brands emerged. Nike founders Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman who imported and sold Onitsuka Tiger in the US under the name Blue Ribbon Sports in the 1960s, split with Onitsuka in 1971. They formed Nike and created their famous Cortez model based on an Onitsuka design. 

In 1977 Onitsuka Tiger merged with two other brands (GTO and Jelenk)  to create a new company, Asics – a latin phrase chosen by Kihachiro Onitsuka meaning “a sound mind in a sound body”. The luxury lifestyle brand continues under the Asics umbrella, a flagbearer for Japanese design. 

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Below: The Onitsuka Tiger Spring 2026 ready-to-wear runway