These tonal ASICS sneakers sure do look like normal ASICS, don’t they? Well, they ain’t. These all-black and all-blue ASICS GEL-Kayano 14 shoes are designed by burgeoning Shanghai imprint 8on8 and they’re actually pretty excellent.
At first blush, 8on8’s blacked-out ASICS look like ordinary steppers but look closer. 8on8 cleverly highlighted the tech-y panels inherent to ASICS’ GEL-Kayano 14 with subtle beige accents and reflective detailing, even providing soft contrast for the eyelets.
It’s a perfect example of how to make simple shoes still feel special.
And then, to deliver the exact opposite of subtlety, behold 8on8’s blue AF GEL-Kayano 14, which takes the speedy ASICS sneaker in a much sportier, Y2K-ier direction. The end result is way wilder than the black shoe but, honestly, not much less wearable.
Like, when you have a shoe this graphic, you kinda just have to embrace the OTT color and wear it like a neutral. Bill Blass once said, “When in doubt, wear red.” I say, treat all big, in-your-face colors the same way, especially when it comes to footwear.
8on8’s ASICS, which premiered at its London Fashion Week presentation on September 19, will both release in 2024, presumably with a fairly small selection of stockists just like its previous ASICS collab.
You’re likely not familiar with 8on8, the sport-meets-fashion brand designed by Li Gong, but that doesn’t mean that the label is small-time. 8on8 is stocked at over 70 stores across the globe, has received investment from mega-retailer Peacebird, is a favorite of Condé Nast’s Chinese branches, and recently reported over $4 million in yearly revenue.
Not bad for a six-year-old brand.
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