Everything You Need to Know About Commonwealth's ASICS Collaboration

Commonwealth started as a boutique in Norfolk’s Ghent neighborhood founded in 2004 by Larry Incognito and Omar Quiambao. Since then, Commonwealth has maintained two outposts, one in its hometown of Virginia Beach and another in Washington, DC.

Just about 10 years later, Commonwealth is initiating a whole new slew of collaborations leading into the anniversary of their first decade. The most recent one is the ASICS Gel Lyte V “The Gemini,” a midnight blue pair of kicks that are so clean they’re almost out of this world. We caught up with co-founder Omar Quiambao about the origin and inspiration behind this collaboration.

Every collaboration needs to start somewhere, and this is how Commonwealth got to work with ASICS: "At Commonwealth, we’ve been fans of the history of ASICS and their running archive," Quiambao said. "We started a dialogue with them almost two years ago, and this has been part of the fruits of our labor together. We’re looking to this as a starting point of a strong relationship."

ASICS has a pretty extensive archive, but some silhouettes are more popular than others. It might not surprise you that Commonwealth decided to work on the Gel Lyte V, but there was a plan behind it: "At the time we actually started talking about doing a project with ASICS, we had seen the Gel Lyte III get its run, and the Gel Lyte V had yet to be released," Quiambao said. "Besides that, it has great lines and a beautiful shape, plus I really like that it has a neoprene sockliner."

A lot of collaborations have themes. Some don't, but most of the really good ones do. Commonwealth decided to look up when it designed its ASICS collab, and got its inspiration from astrology: "Once we figured it was going to be a Gel Lyte V, I got fixated on the 'V,'" Quiambao said. "May being the fifth month, and astrologically, Gemini starts in that month. It’s not exactly the typical way people choose to find a theme to design around, but inspiration can spawn from any thing, place or time."

The sneaker game has seen its share of two-toned sneakers over the past few years. But it still looks crazy whenever it happens. Commonwealth, surprisingly, thinks it did one of the less wild ones, though: "There are a lot of people in the field of footwear pushing the envelope with colorways and materialization," Quiambao said. "I think what we did was tame in comparison, but just enough to bring some excitement to our lifestyle genre and fitting for what Commonwealth is about."

"We used a premium antiqued full-grain leather, so that once they’re broken in a bit the signs of wear aren’t as noticeable," Quiambao said. "We also used a soft and durable nubuck suede to focus on the contrast of the Gel Lyte V’s paneling versus using colorblocking. We flip-flopped the material on the left and right shoes because we felt it was the best way to make a solid-colored shoe interesting. The shoe is navy to mimic the night sky and the reflective thread in the laces are there to reinterpret the the twinkle of the stars. And the sole transitions from light to dark to represent the the day transitioning to night and phases of the moon."

The DMV has its own sneaker style compared to the rest of country, so how is the city feeling ASICS right now? "It’s good. With the older heads—they get it. VA and DC’s appreciation for running silhouettes in general have resulted in popularizing lots of styles and models that are commonplace today," Quiambao said. "The youth are so dominated by what’s popular in the media, it takes a little more time for them to understand, but they usually end up on the right page if they hang around the store enough."

The sneaker will release at Commonwealth's in-store locations and online at the shop's webstore tomorrow, Saturday, September 27, at 11:00 a.m. Price is $160.