The appetite for understated running sneakers has been nothing short of astounding this year. It makes sense, though. After years of hyped releases, resale nightmares, queues, and raffles, the sneaker community said that enough was enough & opted for the antithesis of these values: good, old-fashioned ASICS runners.
With all of that said, it wasn’t long before we fell into the same routine. As the desire for ASICS’ back catalog grew, so did the interest in collaborations. Names like Kassl Editions, Cecilie Bahnsen, and Kiko Kostadinov made the most of the trend, but one collaboration stood above them all: the ASICS x JJJJound GEL-Kayano 14 sold out quickly and is listed with an average sale price of $338 on StockX.
Perhaps most impressive about this collaboration was that — in typical JJJJound style — the design featured no detailing to suggest it was anything but a run-of-the-mill general release aside from a diminutive JJJJound text logo to the heel.
For those of us who missed out on the ASICS x JJJJound GEL-Kayano 14, this is pretty good news, though. Good news because it meant that we didn’t have to wait very long before there were some almost indistinguishable alternatives — save for JJJJound branding — on the market for a fraction of the resale value.
Be sure to shop one of the best alternatives we’ve seen yet below. Featuring a white mesh upper, topped by the same metallic silver trims, it’s a solid way to get your understated ASICS fix without dropping a bag at resale.
Shop the JJJJound collab-alternative ASICS Gel-Kayano 14 below.
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