On Saturday, May 18th, Lapstone & Hammer presents LAPSTONE FOR ASICS: DIP DYE, the next installment of our ASICS dye program following February’s INDIGO 2024. For this round we chose our favorite ASICS Sportstyle model, the GEL-Kayano 14, to display three new colorways inspired by the morning routines of people throughout the world. In addition to the new model and the new colorways, we are also very excited to offer this project in women’s sizing, addressing one of the biggest areas of feedback we received on the initial release.
Building off the first installment of our Indigo Dip Dye where we highlighted a universal color that is part of everyone's life and wardrobe, this next story continues the theme of universality taking inspiration from our daily routine and how important personal lifestyle elements shape who we are and help us make it through the day.
Throughout the world, beginning the morning with a caffeinated beverage is present in nearly every culture. We have chosen Coffee, Matcha and Ube as colorful representations of how people around the world prepare themselves for the challenges that lay ahead: brown for Coffee, a quintessential American beverage that has become a ubiquitous presence in almost every major world city; green for Matcha, a centuries-old Japanese staple that has seen its influence spread from the east to the west; and purple for Ube, the Filipino purple yam delight that is the 'it' flavor of the moment for lattes and bubble teas. Much like our custom Dip Dye process, the manner in which people prepare these drinks is unique and individualized, a way in which we put our own personal stamp on this communal act.
Alongside these new colors, we have decided to bring back the OG Indigo Dye on this suede GEL-Kayano 14. This will both continue the Indigo story that is so important to Lapstone as well as provide another chance for those who missed out on INDIGO 2024.
The GEL-Kayano 14 is both a Lapstone favorite in particular, and a Philly favorite in general, so it was a natural choice to be the featured model in our next project. As the suede and mesh construction in the Kayano differs from the GEL-NYC and GEL-1130 we used in INDIGO 2024, and we were adding three new colors in addition to indigo, we needed to undergo a lengthy testing and sampling process to find the best combination of dye type and dip time to achieve the perfect hue for each colorway. In fact we even discovered that subtle differences in how the men’s and women’s Kayano 14s responded to the dye process resulted in very distinct appearances for each.
The men’s pairs sport a dark and bold look, with highly saturated suede that contrasts sharply with the much lighter mesh, while the women’s pairs produced a lighter and more vibrant suede with mesh that absorbed more of the dye giving each pair a more tonal appearance. As always, the special hand dip dye process creates a variation of tones throughout the entire collection, making no two pairs alike.
LAPSTONE FOR ASICS: DIP DYE
Men’s GEL-Kayano 14 - $200
“Coffee” (size 5 - 13)
“Matcha” (size 7 – 13)
“Ube” (size 5 – 13)
“Indigo” (size 5 - 13)
Women’s GEL-Kayano 14 - $200
“Matcha” (size 6 – 10.5)
“Ube” (size 6 – 10.5)
“Indigo” (size 5 - 11)
LAPSTONE FOR ASICS: DIP DYE will be available on Saturday, May 18th at 10:00am EST in-store at our 1106 Chestnut Street location in Philadelphia with remaining pairs releasing online at 12:00pm EST on lapstoneandhammer.com pending availability.
