I am incredibly impressed with the conceptual and aesthetic quality of Emeric Trahand’s photomontages. This particular project, which you can read more about on his Tumblr, was created for an Onitsuka Tiger campaign that aimed to bring together elements of Japanese and Western culture through the theme “Made of Japan”. For Emeric’s contribution, his concept began with the knowledge that the shoe was created as a training shoe for Japanese athletes in the 1980 Olympic Games. That year was significant for many reasons, one being that as a result of the U.S.-led boycott, female athletes had a greater presence than any previous Games. So he chose to pay tribute to that by incorporating traditional Japanese Ikebana flower arrangement as a symbol of feminine energy and achievement.
