Innovative from the very start, ASICS’ first pair of shoes, produced in 1949, featured a unique recessed sole design, which mimicked the action of an octopus’ suction cup. They were targeted at Japan’s up-and-coming basketball scene and, despite some notable successes of ASICS athletes in the 1950s and 60s, it wasn’t until the 1970s that the company firmly established itself in the athletics world and became one of the leading manufacturers of running specific shoes. 

But not content to rest on its laurels, in 1990 ASICS opened the Research Institute of Sports Science in Kobe, Japan, and has since helped to advance technology in sports shoes and apparel industry wide through studying and analysing the movements of the human body and testing all kinds of weird and wonderful materials.

Today, ASICS is one of the world’s best known makers of performance shoes and apparel and the true runner’s choice, whether at professional sporting events, the Olympics or on a casual run in the park.