Hyper Taping · Issey Miyake x Asics Take The Sneaker Seriously
The first thing HYPER TAPING tells you is that someone actually thought about your foot.
Not about the logo. Not about the resale photo. The foot.
ISSEY MIYAKE FOOT is the new project between Issey Miyake and ASICS, and HYPER TAPING is the pair they chose to open with. It comes into stores from early January 2026 and feels less like a “collab moment” and more like a quiet manifesto about how a sneaker should move in real life.
This is for people who walk. People who take stairs two at a time, jog across crossings when the light lies to them, stand in galleries longer than they planned. It is a shoe for actual days, not just outfit grids.
Image Source: Miyake Design Studio
What they did to the classic ASICS stripes
ASICS stripes are usually shorthand for “I run.” Here, they read like tape.
On HYPER TAPING, the side stripes become thick elastic bands that wrap the upper and hug the midfoot. They cross the instep and anchor the sides in a way that feels closer to sports taping than decoration. There is no overbuilt cage, no plastic wings pretending to be technical. The support system is visible and very literal.
Underneath, ASICS pulls from its wrestling archive. The outsole rides up the sides slightly, so the shoe grips when you twist or cut across pavement, then rests on a cushioned midsole and a new last tuned for daily use, not only match time. It looks part mat shoe, part city sneaker, and that tension is the charm.
Color is restrained on purpose.
Green. All black. All grey.
Three options. No nostalgia pack, no story about a forgotten tournament from the nineties. The lines and the taping are the main event.
Image Source: Miyake Design Studio
ISSEY MIYAKE FOOT: not a one-season fling
The framework around this shoe might be the most interesting part.
ISSEY MIYAKE FOOT is not a quick handshake. It is a long-term project between Miyake Design Studio (MDS) and ASICS, starting from Spring–Summer 2026 and rolling out through Issey Miyake stores, ASICS, and selected retailers.
Miyake has spent decades asking what fabric does when a body moves. Pleats, folds, gravity, air. ASICS has spent decades putting bodies on treadmills and watching how impact travels through ankles, knees, and hips.
ISSEY MIYAKE FOOT is where those obsessions sit at the same table. The teams looked at the structure of the foot, how it flexes and stabilizes, then translated that into forms that can live in a city. Some shoes in the project will reinterpret ASICS archive models through Miyake’s eye. Others will be completely new. HYPER TAPING is the first paragraph, not the whole book.
Image Source: Miyake Design Studio
How it looked on the Paris runway
HYPER TAPING did its first real test on the IM MEN Spring–Summer 2026 runway in Paris. It was not styled as a “special guest sneaker.” It sat under fluid trousers and structured outerwear like it belonged there.
On that runway, you could see what the shoe wants. The elastic bands turn the upper into something that moves with the foot, not against it. The wrestling sole wrapping the sides gives it a grounded, grippy stance. It looks ready for wet station platforms, marble floors, and badly paved streets in the same day.
Some sneaker writers pointed out that the laceless, taped design might ease certain pressure points and let the foot work more naturally. Nobody is promising magic recovery, but you can feel that comfort and movement came ahead of cushioning theatre.
Image Source: Miyake Design Studio
Who this really suits
Forget the full-time hype collector for a second. Picture someone who:
- Wears tailored wool trousers more than joggers
- Moves between meetings, studios, airports, and late dinners
- Loves sneakers but doesn’t want to look like they got lost on the way to a basketball court
For that person, HYPER TAPING makes sense.
Green reads like a quiet accent under charcoal, navy, or camel. Enough contrast without hijacking the look.
All black is the safest entry. It can sit under a black suit, a technical coat, or a wide-leg jean and still feel considered.
All grey is the most architectural. It likes layered neutrals, textured knits, and people who buy books about buildings.
This is a three-pair-rotation shoe. It wants mileage. It wants your Monday through Thursday and the errand runs on Saturday. It looks like it could handle an unplanned walk across a city without needing a foot massage afterward.
Image Source: Miyake Design Studio
Why it matters inside a crowded sneaker landscape
Right now, sneaker culture is thick with crossovers. Heritage brand meets pop star, outdoor label meets luxury house, old runner in a new color. Some of it is interesting. Much of it is noise.
HYPER TAPING stands out because:
t starts at the foot, not the logo. Taping, last, wrestling sole, close fit—all anatomy and movement first.
- Both names stay honest. ASICS brings science, grip, and performance history. Issey Miyake brings discipline of line, respect for the body, and a refusal to shout.
- There is no nostalgia crutch. This is not “remember that old model from 1987.” It belongs to now.
- It’s part of a longer story. Because ISSEY MIYAKE FOOT continues, this pair feels like a starting point, not a finale.
Image Source: Miyake Design Studio
Release and reality
The ISSEY MIYAKE FOOT HYPER TAPING lands first in Japan from 5 January 2026, through selected Issey Miyake stores and the brand’s online shop, then through ASICS and a tight set of retailers. Pricing will sit in the premium performance-lifestyle bracket, alongside other top-tier ASICS collaborations.
If you care about sneakers that respect your joints as much as your outfit, this is one to track. It looks ready for real days, real streets, and the kind of life where your shoes don’t just complete the look.
They carry it.
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