MIYAKE DESIGN STUDIO (MDS) and ASICS introduce ISSEY MIYAKE FOOT, a joint footwear development project launching from the Spring Summer 2026 season. The project debuts across ISSEY MIYAKE, ASICS, and selected retailers, with its first release, HYPER TAPING, scheduled for January 2026. The initiative continues MDS’s practice of working with partners aligned through technology, ideas, and aesthetics, while setting a focused agenda around the study of the human foot and its role in daily movement.
SNEAKERS
ISSEY MIYAKE FOOT approaches footwear as a field of research. The project examines the structure of the foot and translates those findings into design proposals intended for everyday use. Years of shared product creation in Japan underpin the collaboration, providing a working relationship built through experience rather than concept alone.
ASICS enters the project guided by its long-standing vision to create quality lifestyles through intelligent sport technology. Its work rests on extensive research into the human body, motion, and footwear, carried out at the ASICS Institute of Sport Science. That research culture informs every stage of development, from understanding movement mechanics to refining how a shoe responds to the body in motion.
MDS has consistently shaped ideas through close study of the relationship between the body and clothing, beginning with the simplest unit, a piece of cloth. Within ISSEY MIYAKE FOOT, this method extends beyond garments into footwear, where form responds directly to how the body moves and stabilizes itself. Working alongside ASICS, MDS explores footwear as a site for experimentation, research, and long-term development, drawing on the strengths of both teams.
The scope of the project spans several directions. Some products reinterpret elements from ASICS’s archive through the perspective of MDS. Others extend ISSEY MIYAKE’s techniques and technologies through ASICS’s technical expertise. The project also leaves room for entirely new footwear concepts that emerge from joint research rather than precedent.
The first result of this work, HYPER TAPING, appeared during Paris Fashion Week Men’s at the IM MEN Spring Summer 2026 show. The shoe releases in Japan on January 5, 2026. Its design originates from a reconstruction of the ASICS Stripes, a design icon originally developed to reinforce structure and improve fit.
MDS developed the concept of “taping,” a system that stabilizes the body and supports movement. The teams adopted a wrestling outsole, created a new last to define the foot shape, redesigned the insole for daily comfort, and refined material combinations, form details, and colorways.
Name: HYPER TAPING
Launching: January 2026
Colors: Black, Gray, Green
Price: $220 USD
matches my iPhone pocket 🤣