Onitsuka Tiger
To commemorate the 60th anniversary of Onitsuka Tiger, we created a limited edition magazine, Made of Japan, an immortalization of the brand’s sports heritage, original vision and evolution, along with its lasting influence among fashion leaders, athletes and sports fans. In Japan, turning 60 is a tremendous honor, for it completes the 60-year cycle of life. It is this poignant milestone that inspired the Japanese sports brand to commission a publication that would be collectible with lovers of Japan and street style enthusiasts alike, launched worldwide in-line with the release of the brand’s limited edition shoes.
Made of Japan is rendered with beautiful treatment; the pioneering vision and international legacy of the brand told across 260 pages. Published in English and Japanese, the publication was created in close collaboration with Onitsuka Tiger, intended as a collector’s item, rich with truth and beauty. Its physical form paid homage to the exceptional craftsmanship of Japan, merging traditional bookbinding methods with a clean, authoritative look and feel, while the use of various paper stocks would speak of the intriguing contents within. To crown the soft cover book, we created a silkscreened box and carton sleeve, distinguished with a laser-cut tiger motif. Limited to a run of 250, this collectors’ edition soon sold out. A non-boxed edition of 10,000 was distributed through a selection of exclusive stores throughout Japan, the US and Europe, including Colette (Paris), Do you read me?! (Berlin), International Magazine Store (Antwerp), Selfridges (London) as well as international airports and railway stations.
Sensitivity and depth also characterized the content, featuring interviews with more than 30 iconic figureheads across the cultural landscape including Chiharu Shiota (a performance and installation artist who explores the cultures of Asia and Europe), Yusuke Iseya (former model and one of Japan’s most treasured film actors), Hirofumi Kurino (a leading authority in Japanese fashion), Mamoru Oshii, Kiyoshi Kuroda and former star athletes Dave Cowens and Lasse Virén.
Further to Made of Japan, DutcH Studio worked closely with Onitsuka Tiger to develop a brand bible: an absorbing narrative of the brand’s birth, history, and the footprint it leaves on contemporary consciousness, intended to instil expert knowledge when onboarding new employees. Through its sensitive storytelling style, devised into chapters, the booklet begins by honing in on the brainchild of the brand, Founder Kihachiro Onitsuka, whose eye for detail, sense of social responsibility and reverence for material craft, as much as the seductive urban style scenes, has made Onitsuka Tiger the definitive Japanese sports lifestyle brand and dominant force it is today.