Tabito

Vintage. Mode. Comfortable. Tabito's products are genderless and ageless to complement a healthy, refined lifestyle.

The factory producing Tabito was founded in 1964 and mainly manufactures sports shoes. It is a Japanese factory that supplies high-quality shoes for various professional athletes. 
Around 2000, the designer of Tabito met this factory for the first time. It was the timing when the president of the factory created tabi shoes as the factory's original shoes. He was very passionate and was willing to expand his tabi shoes into the sports industry. It is designed for athletes to train themselves, and it has also evolved steadily for wearable comfort and healthy feet.

At first, Tabito's designer was one of the fans wearing the shoes himself. Over the years, he began to want to sell this shoe not only in the sports field but also in the fashion field.

The current design didn't match as a footwear in the fashion field, so he wanted to make and sell an original design. He asked the president in 2018, but the answer was no. He wanted to sell the shoes in the sports field. He didn't understand the need in the fashion field. The designer came up with the idea to launch and sell the tabi shoes as a completely new fashion brand.

Training at the factory for 3 months and conveying enthusiasm continuously, the designer finally received approval to manufacture his own brand around 2019 and the brand Tabito was born. 
Tabito's designer wanted to create a comfortable and timeless design that he could wear daily. He modified vintage design, fused Japanese and other fashion styles and combined the comfort as a footwear. He wanted to expand the brand to a wide range of people who like fashion regardless of gender or age.

Tabi of Tabito also has the meaning of “journey” in Japanese. The design of the tabi shoes are intended for you to bring and wear as a comfortable tool when you are traveling.

The design
The design is inspired by sneakers from the late '80s and '90s.
In the 1st Collection, Tabito has a collection from low-cut to high-cut tabi sneakers inspired by the 80's military shoes. The first item was a high-cut model Brace Trainer, which the designer has a special attachment to. He thought that placing a zipper in the high-cut would make it easier to wear. This made Tabito's shoes iconic.

He also started thinking about sustainability of the product which encouraged him to develop a new series using recycled materials. Airbags are reused from discarded cars as material. These are used for the upper part of the shoes. It takes a lot of time and effort to clean, dye, and disassemble the airbag with oil. Since Tabito is engaged in every manufacturing process with the factory, they can’t make it without the trust of the factory.

Their 2nd Collection is inspired by the 90's sneakers. Colors reminiscent of the Japanese street scene of the 90's and design of basketball shoes have also been incorporated into the tabi shoes. They have also developed an original sole for the new model. Try and feel the difference in the sole. In the sustainable series, Tabito reuses deer leather, which is abundantly discarded in Japan.

With more variations in the collection, Tabito would like you to enjoy their tabi shoes in different fashion styles and occasions.