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List by Léo Turcat
ASICS started 68 years ago in Japan and has continually made sneakers for an “anima sana in corpore sano,” or a “sound mind, sound body.”
Flash forward to 2017, and the brand has not only become synonymous with athletics, but also sneaker collaborations.
Reworking its shoes from the ‘90s, ASICS has worked with boutiques, clothing brands, and rappers, and has helped bring a new audience to the company through connections with cool guys (and girls) who want their sneakers to be limited and look special.
ASICS has done a multitude of collaborative projects over the years, so it’s a daunting task to pick the best ones, but we enlisted Léo Turcat, who runs ASICS Team on Instagram, to rank the best.
Here are his picks.
15. Sneakersnstuff x ASICS GT-II "Seventh Seal"
Year: 2012
Sneakersnstuff, which opened in Sweden in 1999 and has since expanded across Western Europe, has become a powerhouse amongst independent sneaker boutiques, and its collaborations have been various and consistent throughout the years. The shop's 2012 work with ASICS on the GT-II resulted in a mostly black colorway that was inspired "the classic Swedish movie The Seventh Seal. A film that was written and directed by the legend Ingmar Bergman. The story of the movie takes place during the Black Death in Sweden and you follow the journey of a medieval knight and his game of chess with Death regarding his life." The complex concept of the shoe was broken down to a simple shoe, which isn't easy to do. The chess piece on the heel makes the shoe standout against the black backdrop.
14. Monkey Time x ASICS Gel-Lyte V "Sand Layer"
Year: 2015
The idea of this collaboration is a bit simple, but that’s what makes it a beautiful one. All-tan sneakers look great, especially if they’re done up in suede. That’s exactly why Monkey Time did on this shoe. The hairy suede on the heel was a nice touch, as well as the gum sole on the heel of the outsole, too.
13. Ronnie Fieg x ASICS GT-II "Rose Gold"
Year: 2011
Ronnie Fieg made pink sneakers before every brand started to design 56 pink pairs a year. These are a minimalist pair with a clever design and a beautiful quality—everything you’d expect from Ronnie Fieg. He’s had other bangers on the GT-II in the past, but this is the one that stands out the most—not just because of how good it is, but for just how much it influenced the industry since it first released.
12. Proper x ASICS GT-II "Long Beach"
Year: 2004
This is the one that started everything, being the first collaboration between ASICS and a retailer. They’re very hard to find nowadays—nearly impossible. The sneakers themselves are in a similar colorway to another West Coast sneaker boutique. But with so many ASICS collaborations under the brand’s belt, it’s only right to mention where it all began—with this project that was limited to 150 pairs. Oddly enough, ASICS hasn’t worked with Proper since.
11. Saint Alfred x ASICS Gel-Lyte III
Year: 2013
One of the best ASICS collaboration was one of the most frustrating releases. The Saint Alfred x ASICS Gel-Lyte III had a delayed release due to shipment issues. Then it released globally around six months later. All of that aside, the colorway was just great: Light blue suede with a tan midsole, which was inspired by the shop’s location in Chicago near Lake Michigan. It was a simple shoe, but there’s one thing that the Gel-Lyte III really highlights: premium materials always look great on it.
10. Ronnie Fieg x ASICS Gel-Lyte V "Volcano"
Year: 2013
This is probably the shoe that made ASICS one of the more-popular sneaker brands over the last few years. The “Volcano” was the first collab on the Gel-Lyte V, which still is the second most-used silhouette for collaborations by ASICS. The shades of red and orange made it something unlike anything other companies were doing, and it showed that Ronnie Fieg, once again, knew how to transform a silhouette through materials.
9. Patta x ASICS Gel-Lyte III
Year: 2007
Amsterdam’s Patta was the king of sneaker collaborations, and the shop’s work in the Gel-Lyte III is one of its best projects to date. That’s saying a lot for the shop that’s done serious work on the Nike Air Max 1 in the past. The Gel-Lyte III was the first pair between Patta and Asics, and it began an era of Gel-Lyte III collaborations in Europe and around the world. The green, red, white, and black looked great on the shoe, and it might be the most iconic pair of the brand.
8. Ronnie Fieg x ASICS Gel-Lyte III "Miami"
Year: 2013
Ronnie Fieg is known for doing ASICS, and he’s also known for setting up shop around the world. The first time that he stepped out of New York City was to go to Miami to release two pairs of Gel-Lyte IIIs to represent both cities. The better of two pairs was the Miami version, which is one of Fieg’s greatest ASICS sneakers. Just a wonderful colorway, and in my opinion, one of Fieg's best works.
7. Hanon x ASICS Gel-Lyte III "Wildcats"
Year: 2011
Red and yellow is always a great color combination on a sneaker, and the Hanon team from Aberdeen, Scotland, did it to perfection on the Gel-Lyte III. The sneakers themselves were inspired by a local running club and remain one of the most coveted collaborations among ASICS collectors. The Hanon logo—the symbol for something that’s flammable—is a nice touch on the heel, but it’s also the perforated suede toebox that elevates the “Wildcats.” The devil is in the details, and Hanon nailed every aspect of this shoe.
6. Colette x LaMJC x ASICS Gel-Lyte III "Sold Out"
Year: 2008
Colette has had its hand in some of the best sneaker and streetwear collaborations over the past 20 years, and its first sneaker with ASICS was no exception. For the first French collaboration for ASICS, the footwear brand worked with Colette and Paris streetwear brand La MJC for a pair of Gel-Lyte IIIs. The design of the shoes was ‘90s style at its finest, without going over the top. And as an added bonus, the sneakers came in a white duffel bag, only adding to their presentation.
5. Bread & Butter x ASICS GT-II
Year: 2009
Bread & Butter is a sneaker and streetwear tradeshow that takes place in Berlin, Germany, and in 2009 their team got the chance to work with ASICS on two pairs of the GT-II. The theme for the shoes was “Salmon and Butter,” and there was a white pair with pink accents and a pink pair with a white outsole. Only 300 total pairs were produced, with 200 of them going to friends and family only, which made them almost impossible to get. But they remain a piece of ASICS lore due to their rarity, how early they were in the collab cycle, and how solid the shoes are.
4. Ronnie Fieg x ASICS Gel-Lyte III "Cove"
Year: 2010
If we’re talking about quality, this could be perhaps Ronnie Fieg's best work with ASICS. It’s representative of his design ethos: simple but effective colorblocking, and it was one of his early projects that caught everyone’s attention. It was also his first colorway to receive a “retro,” getting placed on a Gel-Lyte V in 2014. It wasn’t the most challenging shoe that Fieg has done, but it sold consumers on a lifestyle, something that he’s still building to this day.
3. Zillion x ASICS Gel-Lyte III
Year: 2011
It’s hard to find something better than an off-white/creme colorway for a shoe. This is a sneaker that not too many Americans will be familiar with, but it’s one of the most expensive models on the resale market. The kimono-like fabric pays homage to ASICS’s Japanese roots, while nodding to the minimal approach to design that the country is known for. Often, the most popular collabs are bold and brash, but that’s the opposite for Zillion’s work with ASICS. It did something that was unique and differentiated only to the trained eye. But that’s what quality is all about.
2. Ronnie Fieg x ASICS Gel-Lyte III "Salmon Toe"
Year: 2011
Ronnie Fieg wasn’t the first person to use colorblocking on a sneaker’s toebox, but his “Salmon Toe” pair popularized the technique for mainstream sneakerheads, and he’s continually used it throughout this design career. What made this pair pop is the bright toebox against the navy upper. It launched with the opening of Kith in Manhattan and has helped make Fieg a household name. It wasn’t his first ASICS project, but it might be his most memorable, as he’s revisited this theme several times in the past few years.
1. Slam Jam x ASICS Gel-Lyte III "Fifth Dimension"
Year: 2010
This is the ultimate pair for ASICS collectors, and it was so good that they did three versions of the project and caught ASICS aficionado Ronnie Fieg’s attention for a collaboration down the road with Diadora. The gradient colorway of the shoe is top notch, as well as the colorblocking. Everything made that shoe a must-have for collectors: the packaging, the video, the sneaker. It’s the most sought-after ASICS shoe by the diehard connoisseurs, and it’s retained that title throughout the years.
