――What was the starting point for this collaboration?

Takayuki Minami (hereafter, Minami): Quite a long time ago, Mizuno collaborated with Mountain Research's Kobayashi on a pair of leather shoes. The uppers were leather, but the sole was something like the PROPHECY - it really impressed me. I still own them. I've always liked soles with openings, and the cushioning when you wear them was great. The leather was glove leather from Mizuno too - insanely heavy, though.

Takeshi Saito (hereafter, Saito): That sole was actually the predecessor to WAVE PROPHECY - it was called WAVE CREATION, a structure with openings only in the heel. At the time, the selling point was the wave plate, and by doubling it, we were able to improve both cushioning and stability. Midsole materials tend to compress and lose cushioning over time, but because this structure uses very little midsole material, the cushioning stays closer to its original state even after long periods of wear. Since the shape resembles a sideways figure eight and emphasizes durability, we internally call it INFINITY WAVE.

The reason the Mountain Research model was so heavy is that it used glove leather rather than standard tanned leather - meaning it was heavily oiled. That gives it excellent water resistance and durability, but yes, it does make the shoe heavier. Using glove leather was Kobayashi's idea, intended to bring out the strengths of both sides.

Minami: I was completely taken in by that. Later, I happened to visit a Mizuno exhibition, and by then the PROPHECY sole had evolved - it looked so strong. Honestly, it was the only thing I could see in the venue.

Both Graphpaper and Mizuno are Japanese brands, so we started talking about doing something together. Naturally, it became WAVE PROPHECY. We had already decided, about two years ago, that AW20 would be based on Dieter Rams, so the timing aligned perfectly. They showed us other collaborations they were doing, but the colors didn't overlap, and they were so flexible with us.

――From a design perspective, what were you most particular about?

Minami: Basically… almost nothing. Dieter's philosophy is "less, but better," so I wanted to eliminate as many visible marks and design elements as possible from the exterior. Normally there would be bold logos, patches on the heel or sole reading "WAVE PROPHECY 8," the name of the midsole technology, or the INFINITY WAVE branding. Those patches were originally meant for exactly that purpose - but we asked for them to be removed.

That said, in Dieter's products, only the important buttons are accented in color - red, orange, green. So instead of adding graphics, we changed only the color of the patch to express what's essential in the design. We placed the brand name in the smallest possible original size - just enough that it wouldn't collapse visually. This way, you can still tell it's a collaboration between Graphpaper and Mizuno, but only if you look closely.

――It really is tiny.

Minami: As minimal as possible - that's ideal. For the upper, I asked for something reminiscent of the metal mesh on speaker surfaces, and the material they found turned out to be excellent.

Saito: After exploring many options, we ultimately landed on a material originally developed for parts on marathon and ekiden racing shoes. From another angle, that meant we could debut a new, iconic mesh of our own, since Mizuno has in-house development capabilities. In fact, this mesh is inspired by fishing nets. When you cast a net, it expands fluidly, but when you pull it up, it can't afford to keep stretching that far. We dismantled actual nets and pursued a structure with anisotropy - stretching in one direction, but not at all in the other, and arrived at this design. At first, we tested versions that stretched too, but stretching created wrinkles, so this ended up being a type that doesn't stretch at all - and that turned out to be exactly the right fit. Compared to other sneakers, it holds its shape better, so there's no strange strain or twisting on the foot. We pursued the look, but the wearing comfort is genuine too.

Minami: I actually didn't know that. I was only thinking about surface design - I thought it was perfectly a Dieter Rams speaker (laughs).

Saito: Through collaborations like this, I feel it's my role to quietly inject Mizuno's sense of aesthetics into the world. We have history, and we develop things in-house, so putting that out into the world in a form different from our own originals feels like the most meaningful thing I can do.

――Even if the model name becomes tiny, or material names disappear?

Saito: That's fine (laughs). The goal is to express a new kind of Mizuno strength through these collaborations, including those choices.

Minami: It's a concept, so it can't be helped (laughs). That kind of expression belongs to the original line - we express things through our own product philosophy. With clothing, there's a limit to how far you can push that, but shoes are closer to industrial products - almost like electronics - so they allow more freedom.

Making part of the sole structure transparent references the clear acrylic covers used on audio equipment. If I used a transparent material in Graphpaper clothing, it would stop being the kind of clothing I believe in - so I thought, if anywhere, sneakers were the place to use it.

――Do you feel you were able to fully recreate Dieter Rams' world through sneakers?

Minami: I extracted it in my own way. And WAVE PROPHECY itself is fundamentally a design born from function, I think.

Saito: It's its proper form, really. The shape comes from function; printed names and labels are added decoration - in that sense, it's already the same as Dieter. You don't need to explain much. Through this project, it feels like you stripped away the excess and elevated it into something core and essential.

――Was it difficult responding to Minami's requests?

Saito: I studied architecture at university, and like Dieter, I love interior and product design. When I heard we'd be working with Graphpaper, I was excited - and when I heard the theme was Dieter Rams, even more so. But his designs are fundamentally based on horizontal and vertical precision, so the challenge was how to conceal the organic form of PROPHECY and reduce it. I proposed changing the color of the mesh section, and keeping the raised, undulating lines in a similar tone so they'd blend in.

――So the materials and specifications came from Saito's side?

Minami: Of course. I clearly communicated the colors and the image I wanted - "I want it like this, this way" - but when it comes to which materials and how to actually make it, we don't have that knowledge, so we left it entirely to them.

Saito: The orange accent areas were particularly difficult. I did wonder if maybe too much was going into the heel, but when Minami said it worked surprisingly well, we went with it. The inside of the sole is transparent, so depending on the area you get orange showing through, black showing through, or nothing at all - creating variation in expression. If you dropped Dieter's world in wholesale, everything would end up smooth and it would feel too architectural. But with a shoe, you still need wearability, a stitching approach that conforms to the foot - so it was entirely my own call, but I proposed, "What if we did just the toe in suede?" It feels more autumn/winter appropriate, and it pairs more easily with black.

Minami: Suede definitely adds a sense of luxury, doesn't it.

――What else were you particular about?

Minami: The laces - we asked for lots of them (laughs). "Can we get more laces?" I said. I thought it'd be fun if people could change the color to suit themselves. When every color is appealing, you end up unable to choose just one.

Saito: And on top of that, the tips are metal. If they'd been even slightly bigger, they wouldn't fit through the eyelets, so this was actually a real struggle right up to the end.

――That metal detail was an important Dieter-style design element too, wasn't it?

Minami: Most of the components in his products are metal, so I really wanted some kind of metallic element somewhere. But the only place we could actually use it was the lace tips. I ask for pretty much anything, and if it can't be done, I'm told it can't be done - but Saito really tries to make almost anything happen.

Saito: If I just said "no," there'd be no point in collaborating. For Mizuno to move somewhere new, we have to take on things we haven't done before, things with no precedent - otherwise we can't get to the next stage.

Minami: The relationship between BRAUN, Vitsœ, and Dieter Rams is the same - a manufacturer and a designer, each bringing out the best in the other, and the product is born from that. I felt like we had that same kind of relationship doing this together.

Saito: It was fun. We weren't just doing it for our own satisfaction - we get to use Dieter's name officially. There was pressure, in the sense that it had to be accepted by people, but being able to translate my own image of Dieter Rams into a shoe I helped make was genuinely rewarding.

――A true win-win collaboration.

Minami: Absolutely. I'd never do something purely to sell it, and if the people making it don't feel excited about it themselves, it won't come across to the customer either. Anything we're even slightly unsure about is never going to sell - and honestly, I wouldn't even want to show it.

MIZUNO WAVE PROPHECY LS for Graphpaper
PRICE: ¥32,000
COLOR: GREY / ORANGE / BLACK
SIZE: 23–30cm
Available at: Graphpaper Framework, Graphpaper AOYAMA, Graphpaper HIBIYA, Graphpaper SENDAI,
Graphpaper KYOTO and other Graphpaper stockists nationwide, as well as MIZUNO TOKYO and MIZUNO OSAKA CHAYAMACHI
*Some stores may not carry this model.
*Limited to one pair per customer.
*In the event of long queues before opening or heavy in-store congestion, numbered tickets may be distributed. Thank you for your understanding.
*Online sales will begin from Monday, September 28.