You probably thought about ASICS as a brand your dad would wear until the last couple of years. You might still think that. Fair enough. Recently, though, ASICS’ image has been changing, and it’s turning into one of the most sought-after brands in the resale market. Here’s a deep dive into ASICS’ recent success, and how they’ve pivoted to be the brand they are today.
The history of ASICS runs deep, starting in Kobe, Japan, in 1949. We aren’t going to go back that far, but it started as an athletic shoe brand, laying the path for where we are today. The company scaled relatively slowly, and the first ASICS Brand store opened in 2007 in Tokyo.
ASICS becomes a notable, global brand in the years after that, and becomes a go-to running shoe in the U.S. ASICS were not commonly resold until the 2020s, which is when they experienced extremely fast growth. They broke into StockX’s Top 5 Most Traded List in 2023, after a 385% increase in trades that year. How did they do it?
A lot of credit must be given to the ASICS mesh runner shoes, like the GT-1130 and Gel-Kayano. Those models have been ASICS signature design for years now, which was ahead of its time until recently. The design is similar to that of the Nike Zoom Vomero 5, and that style of shoe is certainly hot right now. All you need is one model of shoe to make it big, and now ASICS’ other models have started becoming popular as a result.
Additionally, ASICS general consistency and innovation has led to their brand taking off. Remaining true to themselves and focusing on quality of their shoes makes ASICS deserving of their newfound hype, as they are high-quality, long lasting sneakers. It was only a matter of time before they grew in resale value.
How can we learn from ASICS growth? Who’s next?
One major takeaway from ASICS success is for each brand to be unique and true to themselves. ASICS has a distinguished design, and it’s not necessarily one where you’d think “these are going to resell really well.” ASICS decided their brand identity, the shoe they were going to make, and stuck with it. As a store-owner, designer, or anything else, this remains true. Having a strong brand identity is extremely important.
ASICS is also a great example of fast, sustained growth. When their shoes started to gain resale value, they continued to produce and innovate. New collaborations, colorways, and slightly tweaked models are the only changes they made, but ASICS realized what worked for them, and didn’t change it.
This isn’t news to anybody, but New Balance has a similar mentality and gameplan to ASICS. Some of their older style models have done very well, and NB have capitalized on that perfectly. The only direction for New Balance is up.
Although it’s under Nike now, Converse have been showing signs of having ASICS-level success. With the signing of fashion icon and NBA star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and new, cutting-edge sneakers being released, Converse looks promising, and they are staying in-line with their brand and its history.
Mateo Moyon