Asics Gel Kayano 25 'Lemon Spark'
Colorway: Asics Blue/Lemon Spark · Style code: 1011A019401 · Release date: 2018 · Price: $2832 · Availability: Available now
More colorways: Asics Gel Kayano 25 'Cherry Tomato' (1011A019801) · Asics Gel Kayano 25 'Mid Grey' (1011A019022) · Asics Wmns Gel Kayano 25 'Lemon Shark' (1012A026101) · Asics Gel Kayano 25 'Black' (1011A019-002) · Asics Gel Kayano 25 'Glacier Grey' (1011A019-021)
The GEL-Kayano is the longest-running shoe ASICS still updates every year. The first GEL-KAYANO Trainer appeared in 1993, designed by a company employee named Toshikazu Kayano, whose surname the series kept. Its purpose was narrow and has not shifted: to hold a foot that rolls inward through the stride without making the shoe feel like a brace.
The cushioning underneath predates it. ASICS introduced GEL in 1986, a silicone-based insert placed where the foot lands hardest, and it became the technology most closely associated with the brand's running shoes. FlyteFoam arrived much later, in 2016, and over the following generations gradually took over as the main source of cushioning, leaving GEL to handle impact at the heel.
By the 25th version the line had become ASICS's stability flagship and the annual update cycle had settled into midsole revisions rather than reinvention. The bigger changes came afterwards: LITETRUSS in place of a medial post, then the 4D Guidance System, then PureGEL. This pair belongs to the earlier chapter, in blue with a bright yellow accent.