If you ask us, and we know you didn’t, but we’ll say it anyway, these sneakers in tweed are much more interesting than those by a certain couture house that has aroused the passion of the fashionistas of the world. What’s more crucial than the fancy fabric is that they look and feel like you can really do sports in them. Even if you’re not going to put them through the rigours of a workout (other than that on the dance floor), it is good to know that are made of sterner stuff. And they should be since they’re manufactured by Onitsuka Tiger, the 65 year-old Japanese label that has a long tradition of making groundbreaking athletic shoes.

While many Onitsuka Tiger trainers now appear to be from another era, this tweed version of their best-selling Colorado 85 series does not. Conceived in collaboration with the Italian designer Andrea Pompilio, it sidesteps vintage sensibilities for fashion forwardness. The black and white bouclé is quirky enough, but to pair it with a dusty pink leather front, that is cheeky and surprising.

Mr Pompilio is an unfamiliar name here so this may help amplify his standing: he cut his teeth with Alessandro Dell’Acqua, Prada, Calvin Klein and Yves Saint Laurent, just to list the more illustrious names. He is known as much for his urban-smart ready-to-wear (characterised by sportswear shapes—oh, that again!) as well as his quirky but immensely wearable footwear (notably for men). This is not his first collab with Onitsuka Tiger. In fact, if you count the upcoming spring/summer 2015, it would be his fifth season with the Jap co. We hope there are more to come.

Onitsuka Tiger x Andrea Pompilio Colorado Eighty Five Black Tweed, SGD199, is available at Onitsuka Tiger @ VivoCity. Artwork: Just So