Shoe Palace Honors GEL-Lyte III Designer Shigeyuki Mitsui With Its ASICS Collaboration

Four decades ago, ASICS enlisted Shigeyuki Mitsui to design a sneaker that seamlessly fused the best elements of sports and fashion. As history has it, the product the Japanese designer created is the GEL-Lyte III, which has been celebrating its 30th Anniversary throughout 2020. For its next celebratory endeavor, the split-tongue trainer is taking a back seat and allowing its GEL-Lyte XXX successor to revel in a tri-color arrangement courtesy of Shoe Palace.

Inspired by Niigata, Mitsui’s birth town, the boutique’s take on the modernized GEL-cushioned silhouette blends culture and sport. The “Red/White/Blue” color palette is directly borrowed from Japan’s ASICS-outfitted football kits from the 1998-99 World Cup. The mixed-materials upper keeps the split-tongue design intact, but constructs it out of partially-see-through Nexkin material. Other updates that make their way onto Shoe Palace’s collaboration include a matte chrome heel clip branded with “Japan” text; retro-inspired insole graphics (“93” nodding to the retailer’s founding year) accompanied by flame graphics; and swappable Velcro patches for just above the shimmering spoiler.

Enjoy a closer look at the collaborative GEL-Lyte XXX here below, and find pairs exclusively at ShoePalace.com on October 16th for $150 USD.

Images: Shoe Palace