Tokyo moves in beats only it can compose. The rush of Shinjuku’s crossings, the trace of Shibuya’s skyline, the sanctuary of a temple hidden in the alleys of Asakusa—each a verse in a city that never sings the same tune twice. Onitsuka Tiger’s FW25 collection, Urban Duality, reads this melody like a scripture, distilling Japan’s spiritual pull into silhouettes built for a global beat.
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Creative Director Andrea Pompilio channels the metropolis as both muse and map, leading a wardrobe where contrasts converse for this Japanese brand. A Brit-country sensibility sidles up to Western rodeo accents. Punkish metalwork clashes against lace-trimmed softness. Tailoring is clean, cut lean, yet worn with the swagger of a poet, if there was such a thing. Alas, there’s a knowing confidence in these clothes, a sense they belong wherever they are: slinking through a bar in Ginza or striding across a Milanese piazza.
The lineup sharpens with disciplined silhouettes: naval-inspired peacoats cropped to the ribcage, micro-houndstooth suiting are shown to be relaxed, and gorpcore fleece is formed as a sleek mid-layer rather than a mountain man’s necessity. Twin-set cable knits’ oversized proportions make them read as defiant rather than demure. There’s an understanding that a garment’s cut can shift the entire conversation—it’s not what you wear but how it carries you.
Romanticism flickers through, but it never fawns, just like the magnetizing multi-colored fringe tie. Lacy skirts and silk blouses bring in a softness that’s quickly counterbalanced by cowboy-style boots, Nordic-patterned sweaters, and jackets with a waxed finish. Embroidered bugle beads etch Western motifs onto wool bombers, while synthetic leather’s high-shine gloss restructures future-proof dressing.
The shoes are retooled with a bit of showmanship. Archive weightlifting sneakers lace up in studded leather, while the classic MEXICO 66 model glimmers under the influence of ‘80s pop, its crystal-studded surface recalling dance floors slick with reflections. A bowling bag, now crystallized, swings alongside a mini pochette with oversized straps sharing the same space.
Urban Duality walks as it talks—sexy, sharp, supreme. A lesson in self-possession wrapped in Tokyo’s paradoxical poise, with temples and hypermodern towers standing side by side without contradiction. In the end, Onitsuka Tiger embodies a contemporary city through its movement, its friction, its grace.
Head to the official website to stay informed on the Onitsuka Tiger’s new collection
Photos: ONITSUKA TIGER
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