An independently initiated fashion film celebrating the legacy, design and craftsmanship of Onitsuka Tiger and the iconic Mexico 66.

The film imagines OTML — Onitsuka Tiger Motion Lab, a fictitious Japanese research facility from an alternate 1980s future. Inside, significant shoes from the Onitsuka Tiger archive are preserved and studied through a world of precision optics, analogue electronics and beautifully engineered laboratory machinery.

Inspired by the brand’s evolution from sporting innovation to cultural icon, the film explores the idea of movement as craft, tracing a lineage of experimentation, design and Japanese craftsmanship through to the Mexico 66.

Conceived and directed by Jonathan Chong / Dropbear, the project combines cinematic direction, design, VFX, animation and emerging generative tools to create a tactile retro futuristic world where heritage is not simply preserved, but continually examined and evolved.

Credits

Concept + Director: Jonathan Chong / Dropbear

Production: Photoplay Films

Creative Technology + Production: Birdwalk

Executive Producer: Oli Lawrance & Dave Kelly

Director of Creative Technology: Andreas Wanda

Edit + VFX + Motion Design: Jonathan Chong / Dropbear

Music, Sound Design + Mix: Eden Altman

Independent / Speculative Project
Not commissioned by or affiliated with Onitsuka Tiger.