he premium sneaker boutique , which was celebrating
its 10th anniversary last year (2018) and currently has two stores in
Harajuku where is called a mecca of street fashion in Japan, together
with , a Japanese world-class sports brand with its history of
over 70 years, are going to release 5th special collaboration model, .
Until now, the and have released collaboration
models which attracted a lot of attention every time, such as “PHYS ED” (2015）, “HIKESHI”（2016）, “KL-SHINOBI”（2018）and “KL-SHOGUN”（2019）.
These models are based on a series of “GEL-LYTE” that is a high performance
model of ASICS. Under a strong partnership between the two, as the name
suggests, the newly born collaboration model
KICKS LAB. x ASICS GEL-LYTE V “KL KOGANE” is based on the
concept of “Kogane-iro (which means “Golden color”), a traditional
Japanese color with history.
Since ancient times, gold has been cherished as the most valuable
precious metal in the world, and is also a symbol for Japan,
which had abundant gold production and been called the “golden
country Zipangu” in Europe. Therefore, the “Kogane-iro”,
which represents the color of gold, has a special meaning and is
linked to rice, the staple food of Japan, and is used to represent
the color of rice ear. This “Kogane-iro” is used in the ASICS Stripe logo,
which can be said the symbol of , in these
KICKS LAB. x ASICS GEL-LYTE V "KL KOGANE".
In addition, black, brown, and green are adopted as the base color,
which image the “golden rice plant” rooted in the earth. Also,
an image of gold chain that is an iconic item of hip-hop culture that
is closely connected to sneakers is printed on the inner sole.
“Kogane-iro”, the traditional color of Japan since ancient times,
is linked directly to the present era, and is also a tribute to the
traditional Japanese footwear “Waraji” made from dried rice straw.
The taste of “Wa (Japanese)” that , which have planned
a collaboration model on the theme of Japanese traditional culture
such as "Hikeshi", "Ninja" and "Shogun" together with so far,
is good at is directly injected into the concept of “Kogane-iro”,
and it can be said that the pride unique to the Japanese brand of has also fully expressed in these special collaboration model.
