Nonnative Revives Asics’ Y2k Gel-Yeti Boot with Gore-Tex Fortifications

Asics has announced its first major collaboration for 2025, reconnecting with Nonnative to deliver a new version of the Gel-Yeti Tokyo Boot.

The Gel-Yeti first dropped in the early 2000s and was intended as a light trail/ recovery option for outdoor runners, before being adopted into eastern street culture in 2003, when ASICS tweaked the design for urban applications with a mid-top silhouette and vibrant colourways.

Deviating from their usual focus on everyday performance models that have become a firm staple of mainstream sneakerdom, Asics and Nonnative are reaffirming their love the Gel-Yeti Boot after first reintroducing the model in 2018, before following up with two more iterations in 2020.

Nonnative’s latest approach to the design evidences the brand’s longstanding residency at the intersection where outdoor and city life meets, maintaining the Gel-Yeti’s distinguishing pull-on construction that’s held together by a quick-lace system providing stability from forefoot to ankle.

The silhouette leans into its outdoor roots with rugged metal eyelets and a special Vibram sole unit featuring Asics’ proprietary Gel cushioning technology. Completing the “outdoor certified” checklist, the boots are equipped with a Gore-Tex inner membrane that lines the ‘brown storm’ suede uppers.

The Asics x Nonnative Gel-Yeti Tokyo “Gore-Tex” releases via Coverchord on Saturday, January 11th with a retail price of ¥31,000 (approx. $197 USD).