The ASICS Gel Lyte III is celebrating an anniversary of sort this year as it’s been around 25 years and has seen a resurgence the past few years thanks to multiple collaborations.  Probably none more than the ones done by Ronnie Fieg who recently celebrated his many combinations with a shoe mash up of 13 of these collaborations and an art exhibit entitled “homage”.  


My personal fave of these is the Salmon toe which has become synonymous with what Fieg has done and his brand Kith.


The Gel Lyte III is a unique vintage runner with a split tongue being one of the most unique features of these runners.  It colors up nicely due to strong paneling and simple color locking provided by the sprawling ASICS logo. Plus it has all those characteristics you want from a vintage runner including heel tab branding and an otherwise clean lifestyle aesthetic.


So far you’ve only heard positive things.  Now I turn into a jealous bitch and start spouting out my negatives.  The split tongue while revolutionary does little for a guy with a wide foot leaving a gap that looks like a snake bit off more than he could chew.  My inability to tie my shoes well just exaggerates this over zealous snake bite.  This flaw leads to an overall imperfect fit that means I won’t spend money on shoes I cannot be comfortable in as I wear all of my shoes.  The second part is that ones I have really wanted I’ve been unable to get…  Those salmon toes we talked about above or the previously mentioned “homage” pair.  The over hyped Fieg designed pairs never sit on shelves or even on eBay close to the original retail.


So last week I spent a few hours of my day trying to get the “homage” release and came up short.  On a shoe that I don’t consider wearable or that I technically even like.  I fell victim to the hype and found myself hating the shoe even more for that reason.  So I may never own a pair of the Gel Lyte III but I will always have a small piece of my heart that is devoting to hating this model.