A design no one saw coming

kikokurative
Jul 28
2 min read

Summer 2021 was marked by the release of the Gel Quantum Levitrack, yet another collaboration between Kiko Kostadinov and Asics.

The idea was to create a bold silhouette to celebrate the Olympic Games taking place in Japan.

Personally, I was completely caught off guard by this release, it was nothing like what Kiko had done before. At first, I struggled with the design, but over time, I realized this might actually be one of the collaborations I loved the most. Basically, I ended up giving in and buying the Grape colorway, which I still wear all the time to this day.

The conversation around creating the Levitrack actually started back in 2019. Kiko and his team were at Asics’ headquarters in Kobe, during the early stages of tool development for the sole. That’s when Asics’ SportStyle team walked them through the tech behind their latest Scutoid sole (that same GEL sole now used on the Levitrack, the Zientzia, and the Gel Quantum Kinetic...).

Kiko was instantly drawn to it, the comfort, the design, there was clearly something to explore. From there, the team kept working on the sole, sending feedback regularly. After two years of development, the Gel Quantum Levitrack was born. Two years might sound long to some, but when you're building a sole with this level of technology, that’s actually pretty quick.

That’s how the three colorways came to life. And beyond the precise work on the sole, the upper is also incredibly detailed. The three colorways are so good, it’s genuinely hard to pick a favorite.

For the campaign, Kiko teamed up with London-based artist Frank Lebon. It wasn’t their first time working together, more recently, Lebon was behind the visuals for the Novalis launch.

For the Levitrack campaign, we see athletes in Levitrack x Asics outfits, bouncing a ball off the walls with gloves, a playful and physical energy that reflects the spirit of Asics as a sports brand. And of course, all of this ties back to the Tokyo Olympics, the backdrop for this collaboration.