Onitsuka Tiger launches collaboration with DoiTung

Japanese fashion brand Onitsuka Tiger has partnered with DoiTung, a sustainable project originating in Thailand to launch a collaborative collection of sustainable footwear.

The partnership represents both Onitsuka Tiger’s and the DoiTung Development Project’s commitment towards the growing global sustainability movement, explain both companies in a press release, and features three models with patterns carefully selected from a range of locally produced traditional fabrics.

At the core of the Mexico 66, Mexico 66 Paraty, and Serrano footwear styles are hand-woven textiles, which take a week to produce, from spinning the thread to the appearance of the pattern, explains Onitsuka Tiger. Compared to machine-woven fabric, the material used in these products is softer, and the finished designs are more delicate.

The products combine the traditional handiwork of craftspeople in Thailand with Onitsuka Tiger qualities to transcend borders, added the Japanese brand. The goal was to create a timeless design, durable and comfortable in construction while maintaining environmentally conscious manufacturing processes, using sustainable materials.

The main upper fabric of the Thai-exclusive Mexico 66 model is woven at DoiTung using 100 parent recycled PET thread from plastic bottles. The Thai-exclusive models are in black fabric with an Onitsuka Tiger logo embroidered in one model and an intricate tiger-patterned fabric in the other. Red and yellow on the sole are a nod to key colours for DoiTung and Onitsuka Tiger.

The other styles have a red and blue colourway pattern designed to evoke the tricolour featured in Onitsuka Tiger Stripes.

The Doi Tung Development Project is the flagship project of the Mae Fah Luang Foundation under Royal Patronage, a non-profit organisation in the Kingdom of Thailand.