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COMME des GARÇONS x ASICS looks like COMME des GARÇONS x ASICS. That's praise, to be clear.

For Spring/Summer 2025 CDG Shirt is dropping a pair of ASICS GEL-Lyte III sneakers in unmissable all-over plaid, a statement pattern if there ever was one.

Can't imagine more conservatively-styled sneakerheads going for these bad boys but CDG fans will likely be all over 'em.

See, this sort of tartan plaid is actually a signature CDG motif.

Casual observers may think that COMME des GARÇONS is all cutesy hearts and "CDG" branding but plaid has been a brand staple since the early days.

You can trace its use to a few key inspirations for house founder Rei Kawakubo. One is the late, great Vivienne Westwood, whose punkish anti-fashion agenda set the tone for provocateurs like Kawakubo to then rip up fashion's stodgy playbook.

It could be argued that, without Westwood, there may be no CDG. Certainly not as we know it.

Kawakubo has also always been broadly influenced by punk and not just the music. It's more of an anti-authoritarian attitude to her, something that's more felt than heard. As such, CDG has long incorporated both Sex Pistols-era plaids and pointy creeper shoes, the latter a consistent collaborative motif that also returns for CDG's SS25 HOMME PLUS menswear collection.

CDG Shirt is a more workwear-leaning offering born of a desire to make simple shirts. It's now a full collection and tends to offer collaborative ASICS sneakers while siblings like CDG's mainline tap Salomon and Kawakubo protégé Junya Watanabe mixes it up with New Balance.

Rarely does CDG Shirt do more technical ASICS, though it's tapped into a Kayano or two in its time.

That it's gone back to the GEL-Lyte III somewhat speaks to the surprising amount of hype that's recently sprung up around the retro running shoe. But it's also nearly as much a CDG trope as the plaid by now. Nearly.

Never has it looked this proudly far-out, though. Kawakubo may not design CDG Shirt herself anymore but her influence clearly lingers. How could it not?

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