The new Signature Series project connects archival running design with the lived pace of contemporary New York City. The silhouette builds on the original GEL-NYC™ with refined proportions, updated comfort and a visual language drawn from the city’s everyday structure.
Framed by the concept “The Architecture of Everyday Life,” the project focuses on the often- overlooked industrial elements that quietly hold the city together: scaffolding and steel beams, stairwells and sidewalks, mesh fences, utility grates and oxidized metal. These elements are not decorative but essential. The GEL-NYC™ 2.0 SSHS shoe translates this industrial code into an object of considered design – a shoe built for the real motion of everyday life, layered with the memory of its environment.
The campaign, shot on location in New York, places the GEL-NYC™ 2.0 SSHS shoe on the feet of real New Yorkers. Hip-hop icons Nas and Raekwon of Wu-Tang Clan anchor the story. Each colorway is inspired by the world of their landmark debut albums. The tonal makeup of each pair reflects the physical environments those records came from. Illmatic and Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) were not just albums; they were documents of place, time and perspective. That same language runs through the GEL-NYC™ 2.0 shoe.
From studios and record shops to neighborhood streets and late-night gatherings, the wider cast includes Throwing Fits, A$AP Twelvyy, Lichen, Malcolm Ransome and Shane Davis of Public Records. Together they present a cross-section of the communities that continue to shape the city’s sound and style.
At the core of the project is ASICS’ founding philosophy: A Sound Mind in a Sound Body. In New York, that balance is not about stepping away from the city. It’s about learning how to navigate through it. For HSDT, this ethos describes alignment. Thought, movement, and spirit move together. Daily movement sharpens the mind and clears space.
The ASICS SportStyle GEL-NYC™ 2.0 SSHS shoe will be available globally from January 16, 2026.
