Kiks Tyo is a Japanese fashion brand founded by DJ, designer, photographer and streetwear/sneaker culture personality hobby:tech (Shinichi Izaki) in 2006.
Kiks Tyo specializes in men's lifestyle and streetwear, as well as accessories and footwear, operating via the brand's Kiks Tyo Head Shop store in Shibuya, Tokyo.
The company previously operated Kiks Tyo stores in Harajuku, Yokohama, Ikebukuro and Taipei.
History
Kiks Tyo was launched in 2006 by hobby:tech. Prior to starting Kiks Tyo, hobby:tech was a partner in the Japanese creative collective and streetwear brand known as BROWNRATS (El. brown). In early 2006 he exited BROWNRATS to launch a clothing line of his own. The line would be based on one of his primary passions: sneakers.
By 2007 Kiks Tyo had opened its boutique store, the Kiks Tyo Head Shop, near Cat Street, the pedestrian strip that connects Tokyo's two youth fashion centers: Shibuya and Harajuku. The store initially offered Kiks Tyo's original clothing and accessories, Casio's line of G-Shock watches and a curation of collectable vintage sportswear, snapback caps and sneakers from brands like Nike, Air Jordan, Fila, Chalk Line, Cazal and Spike Lee's 40 Acres & A Mule - much of which was hard to find elsewhere in Japan at the time. At the same time Kiks Tyo opened its second retail store, html (hobby tasteful merchandise laboratory), in Ikebukuro, Tokyo. Kiks Tyo launched its first collection at these standalone stores in Tokyo and eventually via over 40 domestic boutique and specialty retailers throughout Japan and around the world.
Design
Kiks Tyo gained popularity and recognition in streetwear and fashion circles, and with both sneaker heads and hypebeasts for producing apparel that fuses a love for sneakers, Japanese bikini idols, hip-hop and street culture into one unified and unique design aesthetic. hobby:tech explained this Kiks Tyo design ethos, joining [different] worlds that have never been fused with creative intent, as a metaphorical "okosama lunch", the Japanese term used for special kid's meals served at family-friendly restaurants in Japan. The dishes, akin to McDonald's Happy Meals, famously include all of the different food Japanese kids love, served together on one tempting and exciting plate.
Kiks Tyo is known primarily for its "Sneakers and Girls" aka Kiks Girls photo T-shirts, which pair the eroticism of bikini clad Japanese models and gravure idols with coveted, rare and collectable sneakers or elements of sneaker culture. Design elements of the sneakers, their lore, nostalgia, color schemes or branding are expressed graphically, thematically, or via the model's styling and poses. The brand's initial 2006–2008 run of Kiks Girls tees featured Japanese sex symbol Aki Hoshino and sparked a global streetwear and sneaker culture trend movement rarely seen at the time. The "Kiks Tyo x Aki Hoshino Tee" is considered by GQ as one of the classic items in the history of East Asian trends.
Kiks Tyo has often used the slogan "Community of the Sneaker Nuts, By Sneaker Nuts, For Sneaker Nuts” in the brand's design, graphics and marketing. The main inspirations behind Kiks Tyo designs come from sneakers and sneaker culture, and its graphics, textiles, colorways, construction and packaging are made to compliment, match or coordinate with them.
Collaborators
Brands
Kiks Tyo has produced collaborative clothing, accessories, watches and sneakers with many other notable brands including Casio, G-Shock, New Balance, Yonex, New Era, Champion, Kubrick, Technics, Momotaro Jeans, OBEY, Penfield, Elecom, Weekly Playboy, Crooked Tongues, Trainerspotter, akomplice, QUOLOMO, and Ebbets Field Flannels. The brand's triple name collaboration with New Balance and G-Shock, the G-Flash pack, includes the NB M574J GGG ‘Glitter Gold’, named one of the best limited edition New Balance 574 sneakers of all time by Sneaker Freaker magazine.