10-03-2025
Onitsuka Tiger Fall 2025: Offbeat Gen Z Cool
'I've looked at the way Japanese people dress, the pan-cultural approach they have,' said Andrea Pompilio in a backstage scrum to describe his fall coed show for Onitsuka Tiger.
He may have well looked at Gen Zers on TikTok, because the cultural and fashion pastiche is perhaps the most defining trait of that generation's approach to dressing.
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Call it offbeat cool. Western touches (think passamenterie-trimmed shirts), British countryside chic (as in wax-looking field jackets and parkas) and lingerie-inspired slipdresses were mixed in a blender to conjure an eclectic look that was convincing, especially in menswear, which is Pompilio's forte.
A cropped blazer with ankle-length pants, glossy faux leather peacoats with outgrown sleeves, shrunken grandpa cardigans and highly desirable chunky knits worn as outerwear over tweed baggy Bermuda pants offered an interesting and youthful take on the male wardrobe.
Similar concepts carried over to the women's lineup, with most of the same garments adjusted only in proportion, as if the two genders were swapping wardrobes. Here the trick didn't come across as effectively, although the polar fleece layered over a petticoat-like frock and the faux leather bomber jacket styled with sartorial pants and pristine mannish shirt read Gen Z cool.
'It's a melting pot. It's about intentionally showing 'wrong' juxtapositions, which is only so when seen through a European lens,' Pompilio said.
Launch Gallery: Onitsuka Tiger Fall 2025 Ready-to-Wear Collection
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