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For a sneaker with such humble origins, the Asics Gel-Kayano 14 has come a long way. First introduced as a performance-oriented running shoe designed for hardened 5K warriors, the Kayano spent much of last year ascending to newfound heights, culminating in a well-deserved spot on GQ’s ranking of the best sneakers of 2022. (The silhouette isn’t even that old, though it’s a little hard to believe that 2008 was 15 years ago.)
Naturally, all of that hype has made the Asics Gel-Kayano 14 increasingly hard to come by; silhouettes that once gathered dust on Footlocker shelves across the country now routinely sell out, often commanding staggering prices on resale sites like StockX. (Mea culpa.) So consider this latest nugget of intel our atonement for shamelessly boosting the Kayano’s profile over the last four quarters: as of this week, you can nab a pair on Amazon, making it easier than ever to cosplay as a proto-gorp legend at the height of the iPod age.
If you’re jonesing to get your feet into one of Asics’ buzzier collabs, your best bet still remains paying a hefty premium on the aftermarket. (Unless you’re cool with scoring a pair on Grailed that’s already been flexed to death on the ‘gram). But if you’re just hoping to grab one of the brand’s equally stellar general releases, the ‘Zon has you covered. There are plenty of nubuck-adorned models available in earthy shades of green and gray, but the coolest of the bunch come doused in shimmering silver and neutral-colored mesh, the type of drool-worthy tones described with words like “coffee,” “honey,” and “vanilla.”
It’s the lattermost pair of 14s, however, with its screaming panels of red and yellow, that feel poised to make the biggest statement this season, especially juxtaposed against a big, tonal fit or peeking out beneath a pair of new-age raw denim jeans. The best time to buy a pair of Asics’ coolest sneakers was, well, probably yesterday—but the second best time is right this very second.
