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Last year, Kiko Kostadinov turned bulky ASICS sneakers into mules, creating the backless Novalis Gel-Styrax shoe. This year, the designer is taking that bulky slip-on into the future. 

The ASICS Novalis Styrax Breeze is the more cutting-edge, more breezy close relative to Kostadinov’s original mule-ified ASICS shoe.

Entirely 3D-printed, the Styrax Breeze utilizes the thick mesh lattice structure from the company’s recovery slides (designed to ease sore legs after sport) and transports it onto a closed-toe clog-like shape. 

It’s an interesting contrast. Clogs are one of the oldest forms of footwear, with roots tracing back to 13th-century Europe and the protective wooden footwear of farmers. Here, that historic shape is reproduced using the most innovative sneaker-making technology.

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Nobody is better placed than Kiko Kostadinov to create such an unorthodox footwear mash-up with ASICS.

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Kostadinov has grown from being the indie designer making ASICS runners cool to an integral part of the brand. The Kiko Kostadinov Studio quietly helps to curate general-release ASICS drops, every new runway show presents new ASICS sneaker oddities, and the duo’s Novalis diffusion line, from which this $250 3D-printed clog was born, offers more high-end experiments that go beyond sneakers. 

Kiko Kostadinov's foresight meant he saw the beauty in ASICS’ archive of functional runners long before they were selling in record numbers on resale platforms. Now, he’s got the foresight to make the ASICS clogs of the future. 

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