I bought my first pair of Onitsuka Tigers last week: the Mexico 66 SD Vintage.
Friends had been telling me for years that Onitsuka Tigers were worth it. I believed them in theory but never enough to actually buy a pair. What finally pushed me was my girlfriend telling me her dad had spotted someone wearing a pair and wanted one for himself. Would I come along to the store? We went to the Onitsuka Tiger store at Phoenix Mall in Viman Nagar — I had no plans to buy anything. Then I tried a pair on. That was it. There was no real deliberation after that. Her dad got his pair, I got mine, and we walked out having spent more than either of us planned.
They’re not cheap. But once you have them on, the price stops feeling like a stretch.
They’re light. Lighter than they look. The leather is soft from day one, no breaking-in period, and they sit on the foot in a way that just works. I wore them all day without thinking about them, which is about the best thing you can say about a shoe.
The silhouette is from 1966 and it still looks right. Clean lines, the stripe, nothing extra. Some designs age because they chase trends. This one didn’t bother.
Her dad wears his to work every day. That’s the thing about a genuinely good design — it doesn’t belong to a particular age or occasion. A sneaker that works equally well on a 25-year-old on a weekend and a 60-year-old at the office isn’t doing anything clever. It’s just that good.
The colourway I went with is the cream and green, understated enough to go with most things, distinctive enough that people notice. I’ve had two separate conversations about them with strangers since buying them, which has never happened with any other shoe I’ve owned.
It’s been a week. They’re already getting daily wear.
