Angelo Baque, the founder of the AWAKE brand, unveils a new collaboration with Japanese sportswear giant ASICS. After bringing his personal touch to the iconic GEL-Lyte III a few months ago, the Queens-based designer unveils a brand new model called GEL-NYC.
In an interview with the famous media Sneaker Freaker, Angelo Baque explains his exclusive project with ASICS.
He explains, « The GEL-NYC represents the first time we were able to create a new silhouette. It’s not something designed from scratch, but we went into the ASICS archives and mixed a bit of new technology with a bit of older design. »
To develop this new silhouette, Angelo Baque went back to the essence of his debut with ASICS in 2019. He wanted to design a shoe that could be embraced by everyone, as much worn by a child going to school as by adults in the workplace. Intended to last in the lifestyle, it was essential that this sneaker had a look that could be paired with jeans, sweatpants, a suit or a dress.
The GEL-NYC features an upper inspired by the GEL-NIMBUS 3 from the early 2000s as well as the GEL-MC PLUS V. It also benefits from the tooling system of the GEL-CUMULUS 16 to provide maximum comfort underfoot.
This new silhouette designed with Angelo Baque has been unveiled in 2 colorways : Pure Silver / Blue Slate and Pure Silver / Gothic Grape.
It consists of a light grey technical mesh upper with color-coordinated leather midfoot overlays. The look is completed with pink Tigers Stripes for the 1st version and gold for the 2nd version, as well as a teal or purple suede mudguard and laceguard respectively. A GEL technology midsole, two-tone white/color matching the Tigers Stripes and a black outsole harmoniously finalize the bold design of the model. As for the branding details, the asics ‘a’ logo is embroidered on the tongue, GEL is tonally embroidered on the heel and Angelo Baque’s brand name ‘AWAKE’ is emblazoned on the heel counter.
The AWAKE NY X ASICS GEL-NYC were released exclusively on January 20, 2023 on Angelo Baque’s shop awakenyclothing.com for a price of $160 each. They will be released worldwide on February 3, 2023 on asics.com. Don’t sleep !
