This summer I had the pleasure and the honour to travel to Onitsuka Tiger’s hometown of Kobe and interview five of the men responsible for the founding of the brand and its early growth. From the birth of some of our most iconic products to the design of the logo script, I got to hear so many first hand stories about where Onitsuka Tiger comes from, which will hopefully play a big part in where we’re going.
Please take some time to view the first episode of the series we worked on in Kobe, “Roots,” which explores the connection between Onitsuka Tiger and Kobe.
Thanks also go out to Ian Lynam, the team at AQ, Toshiki Senuoe and the ASICS team at Headquarters for helping this come together.
I’ll upload real images once I get back to Amsterdam and can upload the photos and video from my camera
Capping off an incredible homecoming weekend, I was lucky enough to attend the second stop of the Watch the Throne tour at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina. Even with the high ticket prices, pretty much everyone I talked to this past week was buzzing about the concert, by bringing together two of music’s living legends on one stage, “The Throne” had created a “be there” moment; either you were talking about what you hoped to see, or what you expected to miss out on.
I wasn’t overwhelmed by Watch the Throne the album, I think it will come to represent a significant change in how hip-hop music is produced, recorded and arranged in years to come, however at times I–like many others–was alienated by the number of luxury rap references and toasts to opulence. That said, I was excited to see how two of rap’s best performers, could bring their deep catalogues and enormous production budgets into a single show.
A wrap-up of our Family and Friends exhibit in Berlin last week, Koi Klub Founder/Curator/Onitsuka Tiger Collaborator Yoske Nishiumi talks us through the concept, how it came together and of course, having fun. Very inspiring.
The ASICS Europe team spent the week in Berlin for Fashion Week, where we not only appeared at the Bright and Bread and Butter Trade shows, but also gave a preview of our upcoming collaborations and high end collections at our now BiAnnual Family and Friends event. It was an incredible time, no shortage of meetings, but definitely no shortage of free alcohol. Thanks to Jack for the photos
This Friday, ASICS will be celebrating the release of a collaborative project with Amsterdam-based DJ Agency Robin Banks. The Can’t Run Like This EP features 14 tracks on two “sides” one side contains 7 tracks that sample Biggie’s “Gimme Da Loot” while the other 7 tracks sample Kris Kross’ “Jump.”
Sound Mind, Sound Body:
Stimulate The Brain With Music You Love,
To Make The Body Achieve Greater Things.
Mind and Body In Sync, At Their Best – Music As Stimulation.
Love, Music and Running. Get It…
A couple of weeks back, I talked about an event Onitsuka Tiger was having to celbrate the release of our collaboration with SEVENTYFIVE at their store on Haarlemerdijk. The event was great, I think everyone that attended got all of the mileage possible out of the Bacardi sponsorship so shout out to them for keeping everyone very social. Of course after the show is the after party and Bitterzoet played host to some of Amsterdam’s dopest DJ’s including the hometown hero, Flexican. Special thanks to Chris Noorda of SEVENTYFIVE who not only let me walk away with a pair, but also bought me a drink at the afterparty, pretty much the definition of a Stand Up Guy. More photos below
Final post about Berlin trip last week, these are better–much better–photos of all of our collaboration partners’ installations at the Family and Friends exhibit. Props to Yoske for curating it as well as all of our partners for dedicating time to doing interviews about our projects which will find their way onto the interwebs soon enough.
Professional Photos this time, thanks to everyone that came through, as you can see a good time was had by all, partially fueled by the 24Kilates bota bag and the Germany-Spain World Cup Semi Final
