Taking inspiration from the 2000 Japanese cult classic, Battle Royale, the art direction for this Rivalry calls for a color palette taken directly from the film’s school uniform.

Classic tones of khaki, antique white and creme are materialized through premium full grain leather overlays, cracked leather accent panels and perforated suede base. A school tie-inspired satin stripe runs down the center of the entire tongue length. Co-branding on the tongue label, insole and embossed heel. The focal element of broken stitch lines and frayed threading on the 3-stripes acts as a symbol for the chaos and destructive plot of the film, proving a life of luxury doesn’t come without a beautiful struggle.

“After falling in love with Kill Bill during its theatrical debut, I read an article with Quentin Tarantino that he tailored the role of Gogo Yubari specifically for actress, Chiaki Kuriyama, because of how moved he was by her performance in one of his new favorite films, Battle Royale. Never hearing of such a film, I became so curious just how good it could be that one of my favorite filmmakers had to pay homage to it. It started a deep dive of in-the-cut, international films and would propel my journey of finding my own taste of film. It’s moments like this that I believe is so important for young creatives to be willing to explore and find off cuff sources of inspiration to carve a unique and individual point of view. This collab speaks directly to 19-yr old me when I started to carve my particular tastes.” - Bernie Gross (Creative Director)