ASICS is responsible for plenty of footwear innovations. But can we pump the brakes and give the Japanese sportswear company its due for making dad shoes out of recycled airbags? Great, thanks.
I'm talking about the wildest ASICS GEL-Sonoma 15-50 sneakers to hit the market. These bad boys are made almost entirely out of airbags upcycled from Japanese auto-parts manufacturer Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd.
These ASICS GEL-Sonoma 15-50 shoes are deceivingly, appreciably ordinary in appearance. The sneakers wear an off-white colorway across their upper and retro trail-running inspired sole, accented by monochrome shades and the occasional colorful pop for additional throwback flair.
The airbags presumably grant these ASICS shoes superior cushioning, durability, and insulation, though they're light enough to ensure that they aren't any weightier than any other GEL-Sonoma sneaker. Plus, the puffy tongue kinda looks like an inflated airbag, so there's that.
I should be clear, though: ASICS has dropped GEL-Sonoma 15-50 sneakers made of Toyoda Gosei airbags before. Oddly specific but it's true. Back in January, ASICS dropped its airbag dad shoes in a "Cayenne Red"-tinged colorway. For November, the airbag ASICS are back in more monochrome form.
Toyoda Gosei is indeed a subsidiary of Toyota Group, a multi-tentacled organization of companies associated with but not always directly in league with automaker Toyota Motor.
That means that these ASICS sneakers are, to some degree, road-ready. If they were any bigger, they'd be safe enough to drive down the street, even.
But the airbag angle also aligns these shoes with pioneering Korean clothing label Kanghyuk, which famously incorporates airbags into its ready-to-wear collections, though the ASICS are comparably easier to wear.
You gotta give Kanghyuk credit for being the first to do widely-available airbag sneakers, at least. That doesn't mean that ASICS' airbag sneakers oughta remain a best-kept secret, though. These shoes will only be available in Japan when they launch in late November.
There are probably plenty of airbags going to waste in scrapyards — turn 'em all into shoes!
