Take off in Tigers
Onitsuka Tiger running shoes, good enough for marathon champions, get a store of their own in Bangkok
Onitsuka Tiger – a Japanese footwear line that began in 1949 as rather primitive straw sandals suited to sports – is today enjoying a new surge in popularity among young people.
Military retiree Kihachiro Onitsuka just wanted Japanese kids to play more sports, so he made them wicker basketball shoes. Then his firm started producing shoes for tennis and running, steadily improving the quality and adding some wild patterns.
And then in 1957, the celebrated Ethiopian marathon man Abebe Bikila wore Onitsuka Tigers in a competition, and the brand was suddenly famous. (Bikila won Olympic gold three years later – but he ran that race barefoot!)
Star 360 Thailand, the sole distributor here, did its job well by stocking shelves at Central department stores with the Mexico 66 model, so there are plenty of local fans of Onitsuka Tiger.
Now Star 360 has opened a stand-alone store in the Gaysorn mall for that brand and also Asics, Merrell, Sebago, Caterpillar, MBT and Nike.
“Our company was established in 2009 to offer sport shoes and equipment from these labels and we’ve found they go over very well in the local market,” says manager Kungsadarn Charoenpon.
The store on the second floor has Japanese wooden furnishings and shelves that showcase more than 30 collections, including Nippon Made limited editions.
Most of the smart sneakers are fashioned from soft leather and woven textiles and come in both vivid and earthy shades. The Mexico 66 is still available, as are Seck Quartz basketball shoes, Rotation 77 casuals and the embroidered Mexico Lauta runners.
The limited-edition Mexico 66 Deluxe made with dyed kangaroo leather is one of the hot sellers, along with Fabre Deluxe suede sneakers with recycled soles and Kamogutsu suede boots, all from Japan, with prices ranging from Bt5,000 to Bt14,000.
“Onitsuka Tiger has factories in Vietnam and Indonesia that produce shoes for distribution in Asia, but the limited editions are hand-made in Japan only,” Kungsadarn explains.
Also on offer is fashion apparel and gear – track pants, jackets, spaghetti tops, shorts, skirts, hats, tote bags, shoulder bags, backpacks and Onitsuka T-shirts.
You can get a membership card too that will get you 10-per-cent discounts year-round and 20 per cent off during your birthday month.
ROARING START
<< The Onitsuka Tiger store is on the second floor at Gaysorn and open from 10 to 8.
<< Find out more at (02) 254 9641-6 or the “OntitsukaTiger_Thailand” page on Facebook.
