Studio Nicholson Made a Dress Shoe Out of an ASICS (EXCLUSIVE)
When wacky hybrid shoes are all the sneaker du jour, it takes a lot to do less, especially in an era where the wackier, the better.
Studio Nicholson's ASICS GEL-KINETIC SP sneaker, revealed exclusively by Highsnobiety, is a radical departure from high-effort stabs at hybrid footwear that smash together two disparate styles of shoe for the sake of scoring attention. There's a great deal of intent here, to be clear, it's just in service of a cohesive whole.
Studio Nicholson put together pretty progressive take on a sneaker, offsetting a soft nubuck leather upper with a typically technical ASICS sole unit, creating a surprisingly elegant sporty dress shoe for the modern age.
What's really nice about what Studio Nicholson's accomplished here is that the shoe doesn't feel beholden to any particular age. It's a tasteful answer to today's tendency towards excess that could also slide in neatly with the bygone eras of freeform footwear experimentation. (It's also a worthy successor to Studio Nicholson's other urbane leather ASICS shoes.) This isn't merely a hybrid shoe. It's simply a handsome shoe.
"Low-profile sneakers are everywhere right now, which is exciting, but we didn’t want to disappear into a sea of similar styles," says Felix O'Sullivan, Studio Nicholson brand manager. "Instead we wanted to challenge ourselves to rethink what a more formal sneaker could look and feel like. I think that comes through clearly in the shoe's refined and minimalist look."
To create its latest ASICS, Studio Nicholson started with the ASICS GEL-KINETIC, a meaty silhouette whose sole bubbles with meaty slabs of cushioning. That part of the sneaker is intact, if rendered tonal for a graceful feel, whereas all the action is happening up top, where technical mesh is eschewed in favor of leather topped by a zip closure that even sports a matching nubuck pull-tab.
Perhaps the biggest tell of the effort that informed this shoe is what you don't see, as Studio Nicholson subtly minimized the amount of visible stitching to amp up the slickness.
In all black or brown leather, this ASICS GEL-KINETIC SP feels quite luxurious. In a release, Studio Nicholson notes that the intent was to create a pair of shoes suitable for either tailoring or casual outfits and, indeed, that fluidity comes across in the shoe's streamlined form. Whereas a leather upper slapped atop a sneaker sole has a tendency to read as abrupt, Studio Nicholson's sneaker really does feel smooth. But it doesn't live in any one world: It's weird enough to be a statement but tasteful enough to be worn any day.
This is an organic middle ground where neither stylistic cue overpowers the other and, as a result, a concept that could come across as gimmicky is instead realistic. Distinct, sure, but realistic. (ASICS has proven itself capable of walking that leather-sneaker tightrope time and time again, even though its various sub-labels.)
But something this special isn't for everyone, literally. Studio Nicholson's latest ASICS is exclusive to APAC and releases in South Korea on June 12 through a pop-up at the Seongsu outpost and a special website of Samsung Group-owned retailer BEAKER before debuting in Japan and China in July.
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