This week marks the 25th anniversary of one of the unsung heros in the sneaker game—the Asics Gel Lyte III. These dropped back in 1990 as a beefy running shoe and have since gone through various tweaks and modifications. The modern versions of the Gel Lyte don’t really look like the colorful 90’s running shoe they once were, but either way, these shoes would be a great custom project.
(Source: sneakers.about.com)
If you need inspiration, check out these custom Gel III’s that our homie (and Angelus Direct sponsored artist) Jake of Dank & Co back in January.
(Source: jwdanklefs.com)
Classic Black and Red colorway Jordan 1 colorway? Clean. Check out his site at www.jwdanklefs.com for other insane customs. This dude is a master for sure.
Back to this 25th anniversary drop. Asics are the Japanese footwear giants and they teamed up with Tokyo-based shop atmos, the super OG streetwear and footwear purveyors for this collaboration release. You might think that putting Japan’s oldest sneaker company and one of their finest streetwear shops together for an anniversary release would be dope, right? Well that’s questionable.
(Source: kicksonfire.com)
Admittedly, The 25th anniversary Gel Lyte III is pretty boring. It’s basically white-on-white-one white. If you wanted an a snowed out Gel Lyte, you could basically customize a regular, run of the mill pair with our Angelus White Paint and some White Laces from our sister company Lace Lab. Not that there’s anything wrong with all white shoes, put on all-white collob might be missing the point? Did each team come back with “all-white,” and they just went for it?
But on the flip side, if you wanted to do something creative you could buy these and paint them. They’re already white, so that’s basically a blank canvas. You could throw it ALL the way back to 1990 with some wild 90’s colorations.
Of course, these Gel Lyte’s are made with a high quality perforated leather, so that’s definitely an update. Unfortunately, you just can’t see that from far away.
The sneakers won’t be out until next week, and that’s only in Japan. So if you were planning on picking some up, you have some time to consider what you would do with them. In the meanwhile, let’s celebrate 25 years of an underdog in the sneaker game, the Gel Lyte III.