ASICS and Completedworks combine forces on a sneaker that trades speed for serious sparkle.
Summary
- The Partnership: ASICS tapped London jewelry house Completedworks to rework the Gel-Kayano 20, marking the latter’s first go at footwear.
- The Look: Three designs in black and white feature hand-crafted bows, flowers, and mismatched gems applied directly to the technical runner base.
- The Purpose: Profits aid the Yorkshire Sculpture Park’s Community Program, aligning with the “Crafts for Mind” initiative to blend mental well-being with artistic output.
Technical running gear rarely screams “pearls and bows,” but that disconnect is exactly where the new ASICS project lives. The Japanese giant handed its Gel-Kayano 20 silhouette to Completedworks, a London-based jewelry label that usually focuses on ceramics and gold vermeil rather than rubber soles. These soles now play host to a tangle of mismatched gems and ornamental flowers.
Those floral arrangements and beaded details arrive via the “Crafts for Mind” series. The ongoing initiative asks designers to reinterpret archival kicks, turning mass-produced athletic wear into limited art objects. Such artistic endeavors generate funds for the Yorkshire Sculpture Park’s Community Program.
That organization runs activities with the Appletree Community Garden, linking the shoes to dirt-under-the-fingernails work regardless of their delicate appearance. You can grab the black or white pairs starting February 21 at the Completedworks online store.