Onitsuka Tiger’s latest collaboration with popular fighting arcade game Street Fighter is an attempt to narrow the gap between the virtual world and reality. This time around, their classic Mexico 66 sneaker takes inspiration from the most iconic female fighter in the game, Chun-Li.
The Onitsuka Tiger x Street Fighter sneakers are available in two colour combinations, the white with glacier grey and the acid yellow. Both feature navy and soft yellow stripes on its exteriors. Up close, the pair showcases intricate artwork of dragons gliding through swirls of waves and spiralling clouds painted onto the sides of the shoes.
The iconic Chun-Li character is portrayed by Japanese singer and style icon, Kyary Pamyu Pamyu in an exclusive promotional short film. She is decked out in a full blue glittery sequined Onitsuka Tiger track suit look and geared up in the latest street fighter Mexico 66 SD sneakers.
Filming took approximately five to six hours to complete and shot in one of the most underground arcades in Japan — the Warehouse game center in Kawasaki. The game center is modelled after the rustic Kowloon city in Hong Kong, which mimics a battle location option in the Street Fighter arcade game – nailing the virtual to reality concept.
In the film, Kyary is seen sporting the character’s signature braided twin buns while serving up some cool kicks and fighting stances. Her moves were also layered in the film alongside a burst of game clips featuring some of virtual Chun-li’s attack moves.
“Chun-li being one of Street Fighter’s most prominent and widely popular female character among male and female fans makes it an indisputable choice,” said Managing Executive Officer at Capcom, Yoshinori Ono. “The decision was made pretty quickly in fact.”
The concept of merging the real with the virtual comes full circle when the playable Chun-li character gets a makeover in a full Onitsuka Tiger outfit while wearing the collaboration sneakers. By purchasing the actual Onitsuka Tiger x Street Fighter Mexico 66 SD, you would be able to access a product code card that will allow gamers to swap out Chun-li’s outfit in their Street Fighter V: arcade edition game into the Onitsuka Tiger apparel battle look.
“The combination between fashion and gaming is not the end but the start of something new and we are excited for future possibilities in this aspect,” said Ryoji Shoda, Executive Officer, Senior General Manager of Onitsuka Tiger Division. “Apart from focusing on comfort of our products, which is paramount, we are also looking at creating a more fashion forward collection to expand our customer range.”
The Onitsuka Tiger x Street Fighter Mexico 66 SD will be available on the 27th of July at the Ngee Ann City Onitsuka Tiger boutique at Takashimaya Shopping Centre, #B1-37 on 27th July. Only 5,000 pairs will be available worldwide.