Mizuno is one of the great undersung sneaker brands, as capable of churning out some beautiful sneakers as it is incapable of breaking through to mainstream success outside of Japan. The Mizuno Wave Prophecy Moc will not change that.
However, as someone who got into fashion through an obsession with weird sneakers, I am plainly thrilled that the Mizuno Wave Prophecy Moc and its predecessor even exist at all.
Mizuno's Wave Prophecy Moc is an evolution of the Mizuno Infinity Moc, a wild hybrid sneaker that first released all the way back in 2007, right around the time that visvim was experimenting with its own future-primitive footwear.
But the Mizuno Infinity Moc looked more futuristic than visvim's signature shoes — in fact, it looked like a sneaker entirely out of time, attaching a leather moccasin to a then-cutting edge Wave Creation sole unit that eventually informed Mizuno's Wave Prophecy sneaker line.
A few iterations were released in dribs and drabs over the years, ranging from tech-y boat shoes to weirdo buckled boots. Realize that as bizarre as they look today, they looked triply insane back then, when the sneaker market was nowhere near as divergent as it is now.
In spite of or perhaps due to their nutty design, Mizuno's Infinity Moc shoes proved popular enough to sell out with every drop. They ceased rolling out around 2016 but, seven years later, they're back, just as inexplicably as when they first released.
Japanese sneakerhead bible SHOES MASTER heralded the shoe's revised return in an interview with Mountain Research founder Setsumasa Kobayashi, the quietly influential designer who's had a hand in shaping Japanese fashion since 1994.
Kobayashi's forward-thinking vision has inspired plenty of breakthroughs in the biz — he was incredibly early to the trek gear movement and began tweaking outdoor clothes for casual consumers long before "Arc'teryx" and "streetwear" ever met in the same sentence — and the Mizuno Wave Prophecy Moc is an ode to one of his many innovations.
The new shoes, set to release in Japan later this year for ¥29,700 (about $200), are slightly updated but pretty close to the original. Compared to the original, the Mizuno Wave Prophecy Moc has an updated sole, wider ankle opening, and shoelaces. No more leprechaun comparisons!
I'm really quite tickled by all the insider-y sneakers dropping in Japan as of late. It's like a real renaissance of all these throwback names, styles, and tastes inexplicably meeting in a confluence of classics.
The only way to make it better will be if Mizuno actually releases the Wave Prophecy Moc overseas, an unlikely proposition for a shoe this niche. But a girl can dream...
