Kicki Yang Zhang Unveils Dual-themed Sneaker Collaboration With ASICS
GEL-NYC™ by Kicki sneakers.
Berlin-based artist and content creator Kicki Yang Zhang has teamed up with ASICS for a new sneaker release that beautifully reflects her multicultural background and artistic evolution. Growing up between Shanghai and Germany, Kicki has always felt a duality in her life—balancing two cultures, languages, and personal identities. This concept of duality plays a central role in her latest project with ASICS, blending her love for self-reinvention and experimentation with design.
Kicki first began sharing her creative work online over a decade ago, using her face as a canvas for her vibrant, ever-evolving art. Known for constantly reinventing her aesthetic, Kicki thrives on fluidity and change. Her collaboration with ASICS captures this spirit, focusing on two distinct facets of her identity. One half of the design represents her Shanghai roots, combining soft pastel tones with retro-futuristic silver accents. The other half reflects her Berlin side, embracing a sleek all-black look with silver highlights. The result is a striking pair of shoes that embodies both cultural and personal dimensions, while also representing the masculine and feminine energies Kicki enjoys playing with in her style.
For this project, Kicki worked closely with Partner In Crime, a Berlin-based talent and creative agency, with whom she has collaborated for the past seven years. Together, they envisioned a project that fully showcased Kicki's artistic potential and creativity. ASICS embraced their vision, offering complete creative freedom for the campaign. The resulting visuals draw on ASICS' core slogan, "Sound Mind, Sound Body," through two contrasting concepts. The first depicts Kicki finding inner balance and self-trust, while the second shows her in her ultimate form—floating freely and defying gravity, symbolizing the freedom that comes from realizing one’s full potential.
The campaign masterfully blends ASICS' focus on movement and performance with Kicki’s high-fashion aesthetic, creating a fresh and captivating narrative for the brand.
The GEL-NYC™ by Kicki sneakers will be available on ASICS.com and select retailers starting September 26, priced at $170 USD.
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