The Rise of ASICS: A New Chapter in Sneaker Culture
The sneaker game has been slowly changing for some time now. Honestly, it’s not that surprising when you consider what’s been happening over the past year or so.
Both Nike and Adidas who are leaders in the space have had their fair share of problems. Specifically, Nike is experiencing C-suite turmoil and lagging sales as Adidas continues to navigate the implosion of Yeezy and the $1B worth of products they had to sell.
While each brand works to put out their respective fires, their competitors have been steadily growing in popularity. Chatter around the most anticipated releases is starting to shift. While separately these problems have connection at face value, together these ingredients combined to signal…
A Hard Reset.
And look, these things happen in every category — industry leaders eventually lose their lead, and the underdogs find a way to become the top dog. Such is life.
The point is that as Nike and Adidas clean house and figure their stuff out, especially regarding drops of their more coveted shoe lines, other brands have found themselves at the front of the race, and in the minds of consumers, especially Gen Z.
Don’t believe me?
Jae Tips, a well-known designer and musician, posted this on Twitter the other day:
If you’re a Millennial, then you know at one point it was all about Jordans and Air Forces. Sh*t, a few years ago who could imagine someone being clowned for having on Travis Scott’s shoes.
But times have changed, and it’s clear to see that we’re in a new era of sneaker culture.
Normally this wouldn’t be cause for concern for the brands who’ve historically ran the space, however, cultural conversations signify that this isn’t just a trend. This new wave is here to stay.
As for which brand is leading the way... Well, one of them is
ASICS.
For a long time now, ASICS have been considered dad shoes, not necessarily a fashion statement. However, now the brand is charting a new direction for itself that is paying dividends.
So, like we always do at this time, let’s dig a little bit into the brand’s history and how they’ve set themselves up for success in 2024 & beyond.
THE BACKGROUND
In 1949, Kihachiro Onitsuka, a former military officer in Japan, set out to create athletic shoes that would inspire a new generation of youth.
He started a company named Onitsuka Co. Ltd, and its first breakthrough came with a basketball shoe designed to help athletes perform better on the court. As the years passed, Onitsuka expanded his focus beyond basketball to various sports, always staying true to the company's ethos of improving performance through innovation.
In 1977, he renamed the company ASICS, which was an acronym for "Anima Sana In Corpore Sano," meaning "A Sound Mind in a Sound Body."
This guiding philosophy pushed the company to innovate further, leading to the development of its famous GEL cushioning technology in the 1980s.
ASICS quickly became synonymous with high-quality running shoes that blended cutting-edge performance features with comfort.
The Gel-Kayano series, introduced in 1993, is a prime example of their commitment to both style and function and today, ASICS continues to play a key role in both the sportswear and fashion worlds, always striving to blend innovation with tradition​.
I. EXPLORING GEN Z TRENDS
Like every generation, Gen Z has a unique set of trends that they follow which inform the vibe of their generation.
ASICS was able to help transform their image with a new generation by leaning into a few trends that were making their way to the forefront of youth culture.
A. Anime
According to Polygon, 42% Gen Z consumers say they watch anime on a weekly basis. For them, it’s bigger than the NFL, and they’re proving to be connoisseurs of the culture in general.
Gen Z’ers attend Anime-themed conferences, dress up as their favorite characters, and find other ways to infuse anime culture into identity on a daily basis.
ASICS has picked up on the trend, and is also doing partnerships in that space. They dropped a pack earlier this year inspired by the popular anime Naruto, and most recently they announced a new collab inspired by the highly acclaimed anime BLEACH, in celebration of its 20th anniversary.
A post from Sole Retriever states that both silhouettes of the collection will debut this year at New York Comic Con.
B. Y2K FASHION
Gen Z’s infatuation with 2000s fashion has been apparent for a while now. It’s even led popular Y2K brands like eBay to partner with new artists to bring awareness and relevance to their platform.
As it relates to the sneaker world, the rise of Y2K styles and Gen Z fashion eventually led to the rise of the dad shoe.
Gen Z champions the dad shoe because of its aesthetic, comfort, and (financial) accessibility. After all, inflation is crushing, and they need shoes that don’t hit their wallet too hard but still fit the vibe.
With silhouettes like the Gel Nimbus 9 proving to be the ultimate dad shoe, ASICS checked all boxes and slowly began to permeate the culture via the Y2K trend.
By 2023, prominent publications were already hailing the brand, and more specifically the Gel-Kayano, as the best sneaker of the year.
II. GETTING WITH THE RIGHT PARTNERS
"When I started with the brand five years ago, we didn't have a very developed lifestyle side of our business — we weren't in a good place," - Kelly Fatouretchi, Sr. Director of Merchandising, Fashionista
Building on Kelly Fatouretchi's quote about finding the right partner, ASICS' push to the forefront of sneaker culture is largely due to its warm embrace of streetwear culture.
Their recent string of collaborations has shown how aligned they are with youth culture while marking a radical shift in their thinking. Many say this shift started with an idea pitched to them by Angelo Baque of Awake NY.
In a 2021 Instagram post, Angelo details how he reached out to ASICS about forming a collective of individuals to bring their creative insight to the brand.
Figures like Tremaine Emory of Denim Tears and Supreme would lend their expertise to the brand. Moreover, it’s safe to say that their credibility in fashion also helped ASICS appear more favorable in the space.
But the partnerships don’t stop there.
A few of ASICS' most highly coveted collabs dropped this year come from other big players in the sneaker space.
A. KITH
When it comes to collabs, KITH and ASICS are like Kobe and Shaq.
In fact, much of Ronnie Fieg’s success in streetwear can be attributed to his early days selling ASICS at his Uncle’s shop.
For those who don’t know the lore, Ronnie made a deal with a rep to sell 756 pairs of ASICS at his uncle’s store without telling him, and he had to really hustle to sell them, lest he be fired.
He did so well that ASICS eventually approached him about a collab which led to the coveted 252 pack — which still goes for high prices today.
But that was just the start of the journey together.
KITH is now a giant in the streetwear space and they routinely put out custom pairs of ASICS, which, in a sense, brings things full circle.
B. THE JJJJOUND COLLABS
In 2022, ASICS partnered with JJJJound for the first time on two-pack of Gel Kayano 14’s. Building on the cultural trends they noticed with Gen Z, this pack was a nod to the early 2000s era, and is widely respected by sneakerheads as it arrived right in the midst of the retro Y2K trend taking off.
Like many of their other collaborators, ASICS still works closely with JJJJound too. The success of their Kayano 14 release led to a collaboration this year on another ASICS silhouette: GT 2160 (seen below)
C. Awake NY
ASICS linked up with Awake NY in 2019, and the result was nothing short of game-changing.
Angelo Baque, Awake NY’s founder, brought his influences to the GEL-Kayano 5 360s for a drop that came in two colorways, each telling a story—one channeling Queens’ iconic Flushing Meadows Park and the other inspired by Parisian nights.
Awake NY has done a lot ASICS drops since then and they actually dropped a pair not too long ago. Between their work together via Angelo’s idea for the collective, and the respective releases between them and Awake NY as a brand, this is another strong partner helping ASICS claim the top spot in the world of sneakers.
WHAT NOW?
Sales of ASICS have steadily been rising on sites like StockX, so it’s safe to say that their strategy has been working well.
I haven’t copped a pair just yet, but for the comfort alone it’s definitely gonna happen sooner rather than later.
Only time will tell what the future truly holds for them, but with Nike & Adidas seemingly out of the way (at least in the dad shoe/comfort space), and ASIC having such a strong pulse on Gen Z, I wouldn’t be surprised if this is just the first year in what could be a decade or more of dominance in the shoe world.
Let’s revisit this again once we get close to 2026 and see what happens by then.
One.