Asics and their collaborations - a case study in cultural savviness.
The fashion eco system somehow decides when brands fall in and out of relevance. Asics is one of the brands that seems to be staying in. But why?
In a world with ever changing trends and an endless stream of products and the content surrounding them, brands come and go naturally. The fashion eco system somehow decides when brands fall in and out of relevance, and it takes an extreme effort to stay in. Asics is one of the brands that does it very well and have been doing so since the early 2000’s. But why?
Since the Japanese military veteran Kihachiro Onitsuka founded the brand we now know as Asics, and made its first shoe (which was actually a basketball shoe) “Onitsuka Tiger”, the brand set out to enhance performance and innovate. But from 1980-2000, Asics released somewhat the foundation of what made it successful as a sports brand - the GEL technology, in addition to opening up for partnerships with athletes, including Marathon winners, basketball players, and other key figures in the athletic scene. The foundation was laid, and the relevance established. What happened next is, in my opinion, the main reason for why the brand manages to stay relevant as well as it does. From your dads favorite jogging shoes to a fashion titan, crossing over between performance and design.
I have mentioned Asics as one of the brands with the strongest collaborative portfolios in the scene, and that is also one of the key reasons for its trend stamina. But not because of the amount or frequency of its collaborations, but rather for their diversification of product and people the brand is collaborating with. Because to stay within relevance, you will need to activate support, interest and engagement from 3 different main stakeholders - consumers, tastemakers, and community. And Asics are good at all three. Here is my breakdown of why.
Starting with the tastemakers. This is where we dive into the interests and passion of all things within the fashion vacuum. It is seeing what people are looking at for inspiration, and tapping into the microcosmos of another brand while both giving and taking brand value. Since the 2010’s Asics have been tapping the most influential names to reimagine their silhouettes and design language, and by doing so, they have kept their finger on the pulse of the culture. And that is something that keeps people on their toes, and keeps the tastemakers of the world engaged in the brand. Having the people who have the power to form the opinions of other engaged in the collaborations, the brand is drawing eyes to the brand as a whole, thereby making the general releases of the brand more successful as well. Here are some examples;
Kiko Kostadinov x Asics (Image in the bottom of the article)
The Partnership with the London based Designer has been one of the strongest ones in sneaker collaboration history, and it makes sense why. Bringing a mix of more edgy silhouettes and colorways, the brand often taps Kiko to spark a flame for the brand. In the industry, Kiko is well renowned, and the limited edition collaborations are great, but that is not why this collaboration is extremely valuable for the company when talking about relevance. But what is also interesting is letting Kiko’s studio design general release silhouettes as well, making the offering way more within reach of the people that might not be here for the rare and instantly sold out launch of a sneaker, but still wants cool shoes that have that extra hint of design. And that then translates to the consumers.
Cecilie Bahnsen x Asics (Image in the bottom of the article)
The collaboration between the Danish designer and Asics have been running for several seasons now, and with great success. Bahnsen's couture inspired take on the running shoe has become a constant in the streetstyle recaps of all of the fashion weeks, and it is safe to say that it is a darling of the fashion industry. But deeper than that, the brand succeeds at building a bridge between high fashion and performance in a way where the product actually feels high fashion on your feet. From adding a great sense of femininity to the somewhat masculine silhouette GT2160, to making a sandal looking, new silhouette in the GEL-Quantum™ 360 VIII, the collaboration is a testament to seeking out possibilities, and looking beyond what have been made before from the brand.. and doubling down on a success by bringing Bahnsen back season after season with a 100% guarantee of getting key media placements AND on the shelf of the right retailers.
Hidden.NY & JJJJound x Asics (Image in the bottom of the article)
Community. As we are bombarded with content and product from all sides, community is something that has become increasingly more important as time goes by. As a big, international brand, building one big community can be almost impossible. So why not borrow and tap into communities that already exist? By collaborating with the online cultural institution Hidden.NY and the design studio JJJJound, Asics brings their product in play with enormous audiences of people engaged in the communities of the Hidden and JJJJound, and manages to keep the culture in a chokehold of products co-signed by the big communities that you probably are immersed in yourself. This gives Asics an opportunity to tap into a huge group of people while “only” being online, and that matches perfectly well with Asics’ existing physical activations throughout each year whether that is building a tennis court in the middle of Paris, attending the NYC Marathon, hosting an open showroom at Paris Fashion Week, or hosting a party with the local community of Copenhagen.
You might do well as a brand, but it doesn't always translate to cultural relevance. To stay within the circle of relevance, you will need the consumers, tastemakers AND communities to be on your side. And to me, Asics does that extremely well. Agree?
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