BESPOKE | AUGUST 2022 | ONITSUKA TIGER
Onitsuka Tiger’s London store fuses fashion and contemporary art
Japanese fashion brand Onitsuka Tiger announces a contemporary art programme at its West End store
BESPOKE | AUGUST 2022 | ONITSUKA TIGER
Onitsuka Tiger’s London store fuses fashion and contemporary art
Japanese fashion brand Onitsuka Tiger announces a contemporary art programme at its West End store
Onitsuka Tiger’s flagship on London’s Regent Street – the brand’s biggest – will multitask as both fashion retail and gallery space this summer. Its walls and windows will showcase work by Ugandan artist Godwin Champs Namuyimba now on view until September 28th, 2022 as part of the inaugural exhibition of the Tiger Gallery project, for which the Japanese brand is inviting contemporary artists to contribute work that addresses issues faced during the transmission of art and craftsmanship. By creating collaborations with like-minded talents and cultural connoisseurs, the initiative will echo Onitsuka Tiger’s own philosophy of fusing heritage with innovation.
Presented in association with Art Intelligence Global, Tiger Gallery is an opportunity for curious visitors to experience art in an informal atmosphere while engendering wellness through the power of creativity, inspiring loyal customers and the store’s wider community alike.
‘Onitsuka Tiger is an iconic brand with a steadfast commitment to quality and invention,’ says project curator Yuki Terase. ‘As a long-term partnership, Tiger Gallery goes beyond the scope of a seasonal artist/brand collaboration and aims to give global visibility to a diverse range of artists.’
Born in Masaka, Uganda, Godwin Champs Namuyimba, the project’s first featured artist, is known for intricately layered paintings that utilise the human form to explore identity and race through a postcolonial African lens. Via portrayals of family and friends in domestic settings, Namuyimba transforms the quotidian into inspirational, aspirational and fantastical depictions of the world.
As the head of Onitsuka Tiger Company, Ryoji Shoda views Godwin Champs Namuyimba’s innovative work and the Tiger Gallery project as an exemplification of his brand’s global vision and its seven decades-old, craftsmanship-based ethos. ‘We believe the project will enable us to continue to evolve the brand as we move forwards in the 21st century,’ says Shoda. ‘We look forward to inspiring, and being inspired, by some of the most exciting voices of our generation.’
INFORMATION
Discover more at onitsukatiger.com
