Laced Up For Lifestyle

Rajat Khurana, MD of ASICS India & South Asia, unpacks how the brand laced up its performance roots to win over the style-obsessed crowd

- By Niraj Kakade

For decades, ASICS was the go-to for orthotic-loving joggers and mileage-obsessed marathoners; the kind of shoe your uncle swore by for his 6 a.m. runs. Functional? Always. Fashionable? Not so much. But somewhere between sneaker culture's retro revival and Gen Z's love for left-of-centre cool, ASICS went from niche to need-it-now.

Founded by Kihachiro Onitsuka in postwar Japan, the brand has long obsessed over biomechanical precision. But lately, that nerdy DNA has been repackaged as fashion gold. The GEL series has gone from pharmacy aisle to grail status. Kiko Kostadinov's collabs are blowing up. Stylists and celebs are swapping chunky hype for sleek runners. And yes, the shoes your chiropractor wears are now turning up on fashion week moodboards, Reddit forums, and resale apps.

So, how did ASICS sneak its way into the style spotlight without selling out its soul?

We asked Rajat Khurana, MD of ASICS India and South Asia, to break down the brand's unlikely lifestyle leap — and why retro runners are more than just a fleeting flex.

The early-2000s revival is everywhere. Why is ASICS doubling down on archival drops right now?