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In the three years since Asics relaunched the Gel-Kayano 14, the aughts-era running shoe has racked up Olympian-level plaudits, culminating in a monumental win as GQ’s official sneaker of 2023. It’s easy to see why: The market for throwback performance sneakers is more saturated than ever, and the Kayano 14 still feels like a force to be reckoned with, the rare It shoe as ubiquitous online as it is IRL. On the cusp of 2024, the Japanese sportswear juggernaut isn’t content to rest on its laurels. Over the last few months, it’s shifted the weight of its marketing might to rest on a new silhouette—the Asics GT-2160, another archival model from the not-too-distant past that now seems poised to conquer the new year.
Asics introduced the GT-2000 line in the ‘90s as part of the brand’s structured running category, a suite of kicks designed to provide more support for overpronators at lower prices than the flagship Gel-Kayano series. Like the Kayano 14, the GT-2160 is a running shoe through and through; when it first hit the shelves in 2011, Runner’s World, the authoritative trade magazine, immediately recognized its “rock-steady stability” and “plush cushioning”, naming it the Best Shoe in the World that same year.
When the top brass at Asics HQ started thinking about dusting off the GT-2160 a decade later, the brand was already seeing a surge of interest in what it refers to as “vintage tech” models, says Asics Global Product Line Manager AJ Vander Woude. The GT-2160 felt like the Kayano 14’s natural successor—and the marketing team knew exactly how to anoint it. In 2023, Asics quietly enlisted a roster of fashion-world collaborators to put their spin on the silhouette, the same approach that helped propel the Kayano 14 to the forefront of the menswear conversation.
Working with insider-y names like Kiko Kostadinov and Justin Saunders helps younger customers “see these traditional running models in a new light,” Vander Woude says. In the case of the GT-2160, those names now include Copenhagen-based designer Cecile Bahnsen, who swapped the shoe’s laces for floral velcro straps in one of the year’s best interpretations; the ragtag skaters at Montreal’s Dime, who kitted out the style in dueling shades of ombre brown; and the Angelenos at Gallery Dept., who left the silhouette all-but-untouched save for a signature splatter of paint by the toe box.
As you might expect, the collaborations didn't stick around long. But if the trajectory of the Kayano 14 is any indication, they’re only the beginning. To close out the year, Asics has already introduced a slew of general release options done up in a range of covetable colors, including plenty that spotlight the mesh-silver mix the brand is famous for. At last check, even the less buzzed-about versions of the Asics GT-2160 are going fast, a sure sign as any you’ll be seeing a lot more of the silhouette in the new year. Watch this space.