How ASICS’ Collaborations With Australian Brands Are Shaping Sneaker Culture

Last year saw the sneaker industry revive 2000s-era mesh sneaker silhouettes, and after rocketing to the top of sneaker rotations globally, their dominance is still reigning supreme in 2024.

One brand in particular benefited most from this wave, and arguably led it: ASICS. The brand spurred its cultural reappraisal by using a tried-and-true method—collaborating with tastemakers.

While ASICS has a long history of working with tastemaker designers such as KITH’s Ronnie Fieg and Kiko Kostadinov, as well as brands like atmos, Slam Jam, and Awake NY—2023 was a breakout year that saw many of the brand’s collaborations become some of the most coveted sneakers on the market. Montreal design studio JJJound put their signature minimalistic twist on a pair of Gel Kayano 14s; long-time partner KITH teamed up with Marvel to use the Gel-Lyte 3 as a canvas to celebrate the X-Men; and Canadian skate brand DIME created their very own GT-2160—to name only a few.

In its search for international collaborators, ASICS also turned to Australian brands. In fact, the Lucky Country produced some of the most popular shoes of the year.

One of the most notable ASICS releases in 2023 was the ASICS Above The Clouds x GT-2160 ‘Shamrock Green.’ The collaboration with the Sydney-based boutique produced a semi-translucent sneaker that reflected the mesh-runner trend that had the entire sneaker industry in its grip.

The shoe marked the third collaboration between the two brands. Their relationship started in 2020 when they created a pair of ASICS Gel-1090s that were almost entirely bone, save for royal blue stitching. Two years later, they followed that up with their take on the ASICS Skycourt.

But it was last year’s GT-2160 ‘Shamrock Green’ that truly propelled Above The Clouds to new heights, with the shoe currently selling for a premium on after-sale markets like GOAT and StockX. It even caught the eye of Hollywood icon Will Ferrell, who purchased the pair on an episode of Complex’s Sneaker Shopping last December and debuted them immediately after at the Women in Entertainment Gala in Beverly Hills.

According to ASICS, Japanese architecture and product design inspired Above The Clouds' take on the GT-2160. The shoe's construction conflates traditional and contemporary elements, drawing on the unwavering commitment to meticulous design characteristic of Japanese craftsmanship.

ASICS was clearly happy with the end result, as Above the Clouds is already lined up for three more versions of the GT-2160. Photos released in November last year showed an all-white pair, an all-black pair, and a third pair with deep red/brown coloring. The deep red/brown pair is set to release on July 20.

Above the Clouds is just one Australian brand ASICS has worked with in the last few years. Last year, Perth’s HAL STUDIOS released the second and third shoes in their environment-inspired Gel-1130 trilogy, the first of which debuted in 2022. The series began with ‘Earth’ and was followed by ‘Forest’ and ‘Glacier’ in 2023. Each Gel-1130 featured a colourway that captured the essence of its respective natural landscape.

‘Earth’ featured cream mesh and minor black panelling. The traditional ASICS stripes are in brown suede, also seen on the toe box. The second release, ‘Forest,’ expanded on ‘Earth’s’ tones and themes. It was covered in black mesh with brown and cream leather details, swapping the brown suede for forest green.

But if ‘Forest’ leaned into the darker aspects of its predecessor, then ‘Glacier’ did the opposite: all colour was stripped away to create an almost entirely white shoe, except for minimal black leather patching and the optional bright red replacement laces that came with them.

Much like Above the Clouds, HAL STUDIOS’ projects with ASICS weren’t necessarily inspired by the part of the world they emerged from. The ‘Forest’ colourway took its cues from Japan’s forests and Shinto shrines, while the ‘Glacier’ and ‘Earth’ pairs came out of broader design briefs—the former influenced by the globe’s glacial environments and the latter inspired by the natural hues found on trails worldwide.

While Above the Clouds and HAL STUDIOS looked abroad for their influences, other Australian brands have taken inspiration from closer to home for their ASICS collabs.

Sydney-based brand Earls Collection’s ASICS collaboration—an earthy remix of the GT-2160 that dropped in February this year—was inspired by founder Lewi Brown’s Māori heritage. The shoe represents cultural touchstones such as pounamu, paua, and flax weaving.

Up There is another Australian brand and boutique that has drawn upon local influences. The Melbourne-based store has crafted three hyper-local collaborations for ASICS. In 2023, they released the Up There x Gel Lyte 3 ‘Kookaburra’—an all-caps homage to the laughing bird. The shoe’s colourway is entirely modeled off the bird's distinct white, brown, and blue hues, and an image of a Kookaburra adorns the shoe’s insole. While possibly comical to some, the shoe is quintessentially Australian—with no Aussie able to see the design without automatically catching onto the reference.

Up There haven’t slowed down this year either, tackling the ASICS GEL-Terrain in June: a purple and green effort that evokes the autumnal hues of the Australian bush, with a shoebox adorned in eucalyptus imagery. This shoe also comes equipped with an eye-catching yellow carabiner as a lace lock—perhaps as a nod to the types of activities ASICS and Up There envision the wearers of these shoes getting up to.

But perhaps Up There’s first collaboration with ASICS in 2021 is most emblematic of the symbiotic relationship between the Japanese sneaker company and Australian brands. The Up There x GT 2 ‘Botanical Union’ referenced both Japanese and Australian flora, tying imagery of the Japanese chrysanthemum with the Australian pink heath, symbolising the relationship between both parties.

Just as the chrysanthemum and pink heath blossom, so too has the relationship between ASICS and Australia’s top tastemakers, with Up There, Earls, Above the Clouds, and HAL Studios all reaping the rewards—and Australian sneaker fans.