Juntae Kim Puts a High-Fashion Spin on the ASICS GEL-KINETIC FR

Forget saving your runners for the weekend, Seoul-based designer Juntae Kim just made an ASICS built specifically for tailoring. The Korean designer, who earned his MA at Central Saint Martins before landing on the 2023 LVMH Prize semi-finalist shortlist, knows exactly how to bend classic menswear codes from his home base in Seoul. Ever since Kiko Kostadinov’s GEL-Burz 1 changed the game in 2018, London-trained designers have had a magic touch with ASICS, and Kim’s take proves the formula still hits.

Billed as a “Dressneaker”, the Juntae Kim x ASICS GEL-KINETIC FR highlights Kim’s signature flowers as removable hardware, so you can dress the shoe up or strip it back. The gradient leather upper is inspired by flowers drying out and losing their colour, which fits the collection’s romance-meets-punk pitch.

The base shoe is a smart choice. The GEL-KINETIC FR takes its cues from the early-2000s GEL-FRANTIC runners, and it has already had the flower treatment once this year, from Cecilie Bahnsen in September. Studio Nicholson had a go at the GEL-KINETIC SP in June too. Kim’s version is darker and stranger, and I prefer it.

Removable flowers also solve the usual problem with embellished trainers, which is that you can’t take the embellishment off when you’re bored of it. I’d wear these with the flowers on for the first month and off after that, and most designer collabs don’t give you that choice. The Juntae Kim x ASICS GEL-KINETIC FR collaboration drops on 20 November, with an estimated US price of $185. A UK price and stockist list have yet to be confirmed. For context, the standard GEL-KINETIC FR is £145 at ASICS UK.