How popular is Maison MIHARA YASUHIRO's "dissolving shoe"?
In the runway activities of Fashion Week, as the lights focus, people's eyes are locked on the models wearing the brand's new season fashion, but at the same time, the footwear products that seem to appear on the catwalk are also becoming the focus of some people's eyes.
Via LANVIN
Many footwear products are gaining attention through the stage of the fashion show, for example, LANVIN's Curb shoes launched last autumn and winter have won the attention of many young consumers with their appearance in the big show, and now even have a "circle-breaking" influence. In addition to the co-design with sports brands, the footwear products that shine in the runway are now more from the fashion brands' own footwear ideas.
The original shoes launched by fashion brands have gained popularity, and they have also broken the long-standing situation of "one big" sports brands in the footwear market, such as many examples, BALENCIAGA, LANVIN... There is also Maison MIHARA YASUHIRO, managed by Japanese designer Yasuhiro Mihara, which is also one of the fashion brands that has received more attention in the past two years through special shoe designs.
Via House MIHARA YASUHIRO
Recently, Original Sole HANK, jointly created by Bow Wow, Maison MIHARA YASUHIRO, and DJ MURO's personal brand Recoginize, was officially unveiled. Compared with the Original Sole PETERSON launched by the three parties last year, this time HANK presents a new visual image in the form of Velcro instead of the basic shoelace system, and Original Sole's most representative "dissolved sole" has also been retained.
It is said that it is a tripartite joint name, but in fact, there is an obvious common point between the cooperation for two consecutive years: the most attractive to the eyes of footwear enthusiasts and the desire to buy is actually the original form of original Sole shoes. Therefore, it can also be said that everyone is not paying attention to this new Original Sole HANK with a three-party gimmick, but paying more attention to the Original Sole as the main heart.
OG Sole, known as "iconic", is actually just a "fourth-year freshman"
While browsing bow wow x Maison MIHARA YASUHIRO x Recoginize's new co-title, there was one word in the description of Original Sole that caught my eye – "iconic" . Admittedly, Original Sole has become a representative design in Maison MIHARA YASUHIRO footwear products, but in fact, it has only been 4 years since its launch.
In the period before the launch of Original Sole, in addition to designing Maison MIHARA YASUHIRO's runway shoes (mostly leather shoes), mihara has always had a strong interest in canvas shoes, and often recreates some classic sneakers.
At the end of 2016, Yasuhiro Mihara unveiled a special canvas shoe design in his personal social dynamics, transforming the original smooth and smooth vulcanized midsole into an irregular pleated form, giving people a sense of "non-assembly line production". When Yasuhiro Mihara designed canvas shoes in the past, he did not leave much "personal trace" on the midsole design, but this time it was completely different. Now that I think about it, this particular pair of works may be considered the "predecessor" of Original Sole.
When it comes to the first time Original Sole appeared in people's field of vision, it goes back to the end of 2017, when Yasuhiro Mihara created the first pair of Original Sole in the true sense of the word in the form of handmade. "CONVERSE All Star is the most important symbol in the field of sneakers for me", Mihara Yasuhiro once expressed his love for this pair of shoes personally, so Original Sole used CONVERSE's masterpiece All Star series of high-top canvas shoes as a model, and created a "dissolved" shape in the form of "handmade".
In fact, Yasuhiro Mihara's decision to transform the shoes by hand can be seen as a "test of the waters" that original Sole officially debuted in 2018. "I actually went to a sneaker factory and made it with my hands at a 'break the mold' angle, and that might have been the starting point for me [the collection]." When the prototype of this pair of Original Sole was launched, Yasuhiro Mihara expressed that he did not actually want to use computers or paper and pencil to draw models, and he finally found a way to make the sole model of this pair of shoes with his hands in a way of "hand clay", and these "dissolving effects" seen now are actually the model effects brought about by "handmade" at that time.
Yasuhiro Mihara's posting of the pair of shoes to his personal Instagram caused a lot of repercussions, and many consumers showed interest in this design - this time, Mihara Yasuhiro seems to have "won the bet" again.
Via FANSGROUP JP
Looking at the Original Sole sneakers launched by Maison MIHARA YASUHIRO today, it can be said that a mature "independent universe" has been formed, which covers CANVAS, BAKER, HANK, PETERSON and other canvas shoe-based series, as well as the BLAKEY series that use leather materials to create shoes, but their common point is that the "dissolved style" vulcanized midsole is recognized as "iconic". In terms of upper style, it is basically derived from CONVERSE, Vans and classic models such as Nike and adidas Originals.
Mentioning Mihara Yasuhiro's ingenuity in original Sole, but not only "dissolving the sole", the designer also incorporated many elements worth seeing in the overall design of the sneaker, so that the original Sole's design does not give people a monotonous feeling, such as printing, visually more conflicting contrast Bandana, Over Dyed dyeing throughout the upper and midsole, with "dissolved sole" together as Original Sole Creating a new visual impression is the icing on the cake.
Yasuhiro Mihara Nigel Cabourn | Via Maison MIHARA YASUHIRO
In fact, when it comes to why Original Sole can stand out, the freshness brought by its unique design style to sneaker lovers is naturally an important reason, but in fact, there is another "nobleman" who opened up market awareness for this series of sneakers at this time, that is, Nigel Cabourn, who has a close personal relationship with Yasuyu Mihara.
Via NWWORKS
Nigel Cabourn is good at improving the traditional military uniform gene, and its eponymous brand Nigel Cabourn and Maison MIHARA YASUHIRO have also launched a cooperation model based on Original Sole for 3 consecutive years, which has attracted the attention of many cargo wear enthusiasts for Original Sole, and the combination of cargo pants and "dissolved soles" has also become a popular way to wear in young people's circles.
If you pay close attention to Nigel Cabourn x Maison MIHARA YASUHIRO's 2020 Original Sole collaboration series, you may be able to find a difference from the past - in addition to canvas shoes, the dissolved midsole created by Yasuhiro Mihara has "invaded" the design of retro running shoes.
In addition to the sneakers in the co-brand with Nigel Cabourn, Maison MIHARA YASUHIRO also showed us this design concept in cooperation with DIET BUTCHER SLIM SKIN. In addition, the official website also has many kinds of "dissolving sneakers" options, such as OG Sole Classic Running Sneaker, OG Embroidery Brogue Low-top Sneaker, etc., and the fine classification is not inferior to the canvas shoe series.
Yasuhiro Mihara is not the first time he has become popular for "making shoes"
Via Instagram @miharayasuhiro_official
Although Yasuhiro Mihara's "fashion prowess" for the Maison MIHARA YASUHIRO brand is truly not to be underestimated, the brand has become a representative of the Japanese fashion field that is good at restructuring and deconstructing design. But if you also pay close attention to Mihara's own social media account, you will find that he has a greater passion for making shoes, in fact, he "debuted" as a shoe designer as early as the mid-90s, and fashion was only later involved.
Early PUMA x MIHARA YASUHIRO MY-1 | Via Google
The emergence and popularity of Original Sole triggered a "circle-breaking" cascading effect for Maison MIHARA YASUHIRO, but in fact, this is not the first time that Yasuhiro Mihara has become popular for making sneakers. As early as 1999, he began to cooperate with PUMA's shoes to try to expand the use of sneakers and bring fashion attributes to sneakers.
Via Instagram @miharayasuhiro
Long ago, "Half to Half" was Mihara's most iconic design language, merging two very different pairs of shoes, of course, all based on practical wear.
"Half to Half" is also a destructive and restructuring concept that often appears in Maison MIHARA YASUHIRO clothing, when the price of this series of sneakers also soared on Japanese shopping sites such as Yahoo JP, but it did not reach the overseas influence of Original Sole now.
Via ADDICT WEB SHOP
Today, Original Sole has become a masterpiece in Maison MIHARA YASUHIRO footwear products, but this does not mean that Mihara Yasuyu has no other sneaker design thinking except for dissolving the midsole. In collaboration with fashion brand LIMI feu, Mihara not only "made a fuss" in the vulcanized midsole again, but also reshaped the lace system in the "twisted" form in the upper part of the canvas shoe, forming a more fashionable expression.
In addition to the sneaker design concept in the canvas shoe transformation, from Maison MIHARA YASUHIRO's cooperation with some brands, it is actually possible to find Mihara Yasuhiro's self-understanding of "Chunky Sneakers". Speaking of "Chunky Sneakers", it is necessary to mention the LANVIN Curb at the beginning of the article, but the "Chunky" style shoes created by Yasuyu Mihara are obviously different from them, he attaches importance to the tongue part of the sneaker as the starting point of this design concept, and then spreads from top to bottom to the upper, body and other parts, and the cooperation with ECCO, DC Shoes and other units is the same.
Maison MIHARA YASUHIRO x ECCO collaboration series | Via Maison MIHARA YASUHIRO
In Mihara Yasuhiro's Instagram feed, almost 78 out of 10 are "drying" their own shoemaking process and creating new designs, from Maison MIHARA YASUHIRO's runway shoes, to the fusion of "Half to Half" style, to today's Original Sole series. So now you should be able to understand why he is more suitable for being a "sneaker designer"...
At a time when the Original Sole series is booming in the sneaker market, Yasuhiro Mihara has found a new direction for footwear products, that is, the Maison MIHARA YASUHIRO "General Scale" series that debuted a few days ago. This series focuses on the "sustainable development" concept known in the fashion and trend field today, from the factory, raw materials and production area to ensure the sustainability of the whole process, through more than 50 handicrafts carefully created unique appearance, all shoes are made of biodegradable materials, the upper and laces are made of organic cotton, the sole is made of 100% plant fiber.
In fact, most consumers are more concerned about the appearance of the "General Scale" series than the "sustainable" process applied in the sneakers – this time, Yasuhiro Mihara did not continue the concept of "dissolution" in the Original Sole series, which makes the series of shoes look slightly "conventional" - perhaps it is a little difficult to imagine that it is Mihara Yasuhiro's work. However, the shoe uses a similar "corrosive" general old-fashioned technique to present the aging texture brought about by the passage of time, which is also a new idea.
Speaking of the Original Sole series of sneakers, when it is popular in the sneaker circle, it also bears some criticism about "plagiarism" or "changeable", which is the so-called "shoe red is not much". But in fact, what we need to face squarely is that the sneakers that Mihara Yasuhiro really wants to create are not only "color-changing" "play ticket" nature works, many of his ideas in fashion design have been entered into the sneaker design, just like we said "Half to Half" before, so Maison MIHARA YASUHIRO's sneaker products have not become "empty talk without basic support", but can attract people's attention and love with real materials (when writing this article, I also placed an order in passing...). Therefore, I also look forward to yasuhiro Mihara, as a fashion designer, to continue to output more diversified sneaker design concepts, not only to Original Sole, but also to bring more possibilities.