During his visit to Japan this week, Apple CEO Tim Cook was spotted sporting a unique pair of custom Nike Vomero Plus sneakers created exclusively for him by Sashiko Gals, a collective of 15 women artisans from Otsuchi Town in Iwate Prefecture. Cook wore the custom footwear during the grand reopening of Apple Ginza in Tokyo, which was the company’s first retail store outside the United States when it originally opened in 2003.
The Sashiko Gals collective specializes in the traditional Japanese needlework technique of sashiko, which uses bold running stitches for reparative and decorative purposes. The group, consisting of women ages 40 to 80, formed in response to the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011 as part of local reconstruction efforts. Each custom piece requires approximately 30 hours of meticulous handwork by experienced artisans.
Cook’s sneakers featured the existing Nike Vomero Plus colorway with an all-new upper featuring intricate blue patchwork, complete with white stitching and subtle hits of red to match the sneaker’s ZoomX cushioning, embroidered using traditional Japanese sashiko techniques.
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Cook’s cultural immersion during his Japan visit extended beyond the custom sneakers. In an X post Wednesday, the Apple CEO said he “met Pikachu, connected with developers using our software features in amazing ways, and played Dragon Ball Gekishin Squadra at Bandai Namco … Japan is a gamer’s paradise!” The post accompanied a video showing Cook interacting with the iconic Pokémon character and touring various gaming facilities.
The CEO’s visit culminated in Friday’s grand reopening of the redesigned four-story Apple Ginza store, which features sustainability elements like adaptive louvers for natural light regulation and regionally sourced materials. Cook made a surprise entrance at the opening ceremony, greeting enthusiastic Apple fans with high fives after a countdown.
Cook’s custom Sashiko Gals–Nike collab represents the growing global recognition of the collective’s work, which has garnered attention on social media for transforming ordinary sneakers into unique art pieces. Their bespoke customization service, which starts at around $1,600, is so popular prospective clients have to apply through a lottery system.
For this story, Fortune used generative AI to help with an initial draft. An editor verified the accuracy of the information before publishing.
