In 2003, The Bride (Uma Thurman) walked into a Tokyo restaurant ready to face off against Yakuza head O-Ren Ishii (Lucy Liu) and, to her surprise, her aptly named band of assassins, the Crazy 88. When Quentin Tarantino directed what has arguably become the most famous scene from Kill Bill Vol. 1, we would hazard a guess he didn’t anticipate The Bride’s shoes to be its most enduring touchstone.
A perfect match to her mustard-yellow tracksuit with black stripes, Uma’s Onitsuka Tiger Mexico 66s are both the final detail and the defining factor of one of the most recognisable costumes of all time.
Kill Bill was not the Mexico 66s’ first brush with big-screen stardom. Red, white and blue pairs had previously been worn by Jim Kelly in 1973’s Enter the Dragon and Bruce
Lee in 1978’s Game of Death— but it was their appearance in Tarantino’s cult classic that permanently shifted the shoe into the realm of cool.
Their starring role in the movie came a year after Onitsuka Tiger had been revived by ASICS as a heritage line, celebrating the brand’s iconic design and background. More than 50 years earlier, the company was founded as a sports brand by Kihachiro Onitsuka in Kobe, Japan. Kihachiro began producing basketball shoes and promoting youth health via sport in the post-war period. The shoes pivoted to running, enjoying a steady rise to prominence before the low-cut, slim-silhouetted Mexico 66 was introduced in 1966 worn by the Japanese Olympic team at the 1968 Mexico Summer Olympics.
Today, the sneaker’s purpose falls away from bloody brawls or track competitions. Rather, the Mexico 66 has been helping models and celebrities land in street-style galleries thanks to its new-found status as an it-shoe. Last April, the zeitgeist—as it pertains to footwear, at least—found itself painted yellow. It’s no secret Gen Z have a soft spot for nostalgic fashion, and the combination of more than seven decades of heritage, quality design and an iconic pop-culture reference positioned Onitsuka Tiger as a prime candidate for a comeback.
From the street to social media, the shoe was suddenly everywhere, finding fans in Bella Hadid, Kaia Gerber, Suki Waterhouse and countless everyday fashion folk. Prince William is even a fan, although he was admittedly ahead of the curve, having been spotted in a pair similar to Kelly and Lee’s during a trip to Australia in 2010.
This explosion of the Mexico 66 introduced a new generation to the brand, and the broader Red Tiger heritage collection has shifted from an IYKYK item to a cool-girl status symbol. With the brand celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, Onitsuka Tiger remains firm in its commitment to Japanese style and craftsmanship. In doing so, sneakerheads have begun to take note that it designs for a world where fashion encourages movement—not limits it. But Uma could have told you that 20 years ago.
This article originally appeared in Issue 01 of Cosmopolitan Australia. Get your copy and subscribe to future issues here.
