66 by Tiffany Leong

Tiffany Leong

Table of Contents

1.

BEHIND THE NAME 2.

MEXICO, 1968 3.

TIGER STRIPES 4.

DESIGNS 5.

CULTURAL IMPACT 6.

REBIRTH OF THE 66

Origins of Onitsuka

Onitsuka Tigers (now Asics) was founded in 1949 by Kihachiro Onitsuka. He began manufacturing shoes for the local basketball teams of his hometown in Kobe, Japan. Although, it wasn’t an easy start. Onitsuka’s initial take on the basketball shoe was based on the model of a straw sandal, which was a failure. After returning to the design stage, he found inspiration when being served a dish of octopus.

He modeled a new design that mimicked the suction cups of tentacles, a shoe innovation that allowed basketball players to make fast breaks and stops due to the strong octopus-like grip of the soles.

Another testament to Onitsuka’s creativity and innovativeness was when developing better running shoes. After gaining some information about blisters from a university medical professor, Onitsuka realized that heat caused running blisters, so he began to focus on developing shoes with air circulation.

This led to the Magic Runners being created in 1960, with holes drilled into the shoe to promote ventilation in the running sport.

Introduced in 1966, the Mexico 66’s were developed to be used by athletes in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. This is the first shoe to use the trademark stripes that would be featured in Onitsuka Tiger and Asics shoes.

Because the brand did not yet have a well-known shoe that could compete and

Mexico, 1968 represent the company like its competitors Adidas and Puma, the company wanted to create a flagship shoe.

It released the shoe two years before the Olympics in order to build buzz and the success of the athletes in competitions led to more athletes and even the Japanese national team using the shoes during the games.

The Tiger Stripes These shoes were the first to carry the Tiger Stripes insignia Asics/Onitsuka Tigers is kown for today.

In 1966, the company held an internal design competition, adhering to the brand’s philosophy of form-followsfunction. The sole requirement was that the design should be distinctive while significantly enhancing the shoe’s performance.

Over 200 Onitsuka Tiger employees submitted ideas. Developers narrowed down the entries to five models for the final round.

The standout design emerged in the form of the Onitsuka Tiger Stripes, which integrated vertical stripes into the lacing. This provided enhanced stability to the material surface, notably improving the shoe’s fit and durability.

The Onitsuka Tiger Stripes successfully merged iconic design with groundbreaking functionality.

1968

2023

Cultural Impact The shoe became popular after its use in the Bruce Lee film, Game of Death, where he wore a yellow and black pair. The popularity of the film led to the shoe becoming popular outside of the running world and enter the mainstream market.

The shoe would see a second boost in popularity with the release of Kill Bill: Volume 1, where the main character, played by the famed actress Uma Therman, wore them as an homage to Bruce Lee’s original film.

Rebirth of the 66

Although the Mexico 66s gained popularity in the early 2000s, they are now coming back into fashion in 2023. On Tiktok, the show has gained over 100 million views, and sneaker sites worldwide have either sold out or marked up the prices of the shoe exponentially. It has become a favorite among models, actors, and celebrities alike.

The growing sneaker trend points towards lower soles, lightweightness, and slim silhouettes, and the Mexico 66s are the embodiment of such. But, the shoe also offers a wide variation of colorways, making it very customizable and unique to its buyer.

The company has also released a new line of Mexico 66s this year, CACTFUL, which uses Mexico cactus-derived materials and aims to align itself with the goals and trends of sustainability in fashion.