Ryu Itadani & Onitsuka Tiger

Throughout 2011 and as a tie-in with their Made Of Japan campaign, Onitsuka Tiger expressed their heritage and history by working with an internationally recognized artist named Ryu Itadani, who is well-known for his hand drawn lines and bold colors.

Ryu's work is based around themes of 'city', 'nature' and 'things' which is where Onitsuka Tiger has tied in. Ryu began sketching images of the Mexico 66 on canvas, which is shown below, and then went on to painting the sketched image.

(Photos sourced from ryuitadani.com)

As Ryu states in an interview, he believes he has a better relationship with objects than most people as he sees characteristics of himself within the object and feels the paintings of the things he likes are almost self-portraits.

(Interview with Ryu Itadani, 2011, Vimeo, http://vimeo.com/onitsukatiger/itadani)