ASICS GEL-KAYANO Legacy is a Mash-Up of The Best Y2K Flavours

By Ben McKimm - News Published: 1 Sep 2023

ASICS SportStyle is having a moment. Whether you’re talking about their collaboration with JJJJound for one of the year’s most sought-after GEL KAYANO 14s or in-line pairs like the GT-2160 and GEL-1130. They’ve nailed the Y2K aesthetic by looking back at their hits from the 2000s era.

Today, they’ve done it again with the release of the GEL-KAYANO LEGACY. A shoe that ticks all the nostalgia boxes; silver metallic overlays, tonal base elements, and thick mesh. This design celebrates the 30th anniversary of the GEL-KAYANO series and the technological advancements that propelled the series into what it is today.

Asics gel legacy black white on foot — ASICS GEL-KAYANO Legacy on foot | Image: Supplied

Designer Toshikazu Kayano started designing footwear at ASICS in the late 1980s before creating the GEL-KAYANO series in 1993. Little did he know that sneakers designed for running would suddenly become the must-have lifestyle and fashion shoes 30 years on. “When I first started designing the GEL-KAYANO series for running, I never would’ve imagined that there would be 30 different models across a 30-year timeframe – let alone reach the sneaker space,” he said.

“It’s exciting how shoe designs that were originally intended for performance have developed a cross-over into various lifestyle realms.”

The GEL-KAYANO Legacy takes inspiration from the GEL KAYANO 14 for one but also shares style elements with the GEL-KAYANO TRAINER, GEL-KAYANO 5, GEL-KAYANO 6, GEL-KAYANO 10, GEL-KAYANO 12, GEL-KAYANO 18, and GEL-KAYANO 20. It’s a mash-up sneaker, but we think it’s beautiful.

Available right now via. the asics.com/au link below for AU$260, our favourite colourway features a primarily white base that’s offset with blue, red, and black undertones. If you’re after the early 2000s Y2K nostalgia element, check out the pure silver colourway with black undertones on the gel unit.

Shop at ASICS Sportstyle

Asics gel legacy in pure silver — ASICS GEL-KAYANO Pure Silver | Image: Supplied

Asics gel legacy in black white heel — ASICS GEL-KAYANO Pure Silver | Image: Supplied

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Ben McKimm

Ben lives in Sydney, Australia. He has a Bachelor's Degree (Media, Technology and the Law) from Macquarie University (2020). Outside of his studies, he has spent the last decade heavily involved in the automotive, technology and fashion world. Turning his passion and expertise into a Journalist position at Man of Many where he continues to write about everything that interests the modern man. Conducting car reviews on both the road and track, hands-on reviews of cutting-edge technology and employing a vast knowledge in the space of fashion and sneakers to his work. One day he hopes to own his own brand.

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