Back when Cecilie Bahnsen and ASICS announced their first collaboration in the summer of 2023, the brands became the dynamic duo the fashion world never knew it needed. Though Bahnsen brings her whimsical, imaginative touch to all of her ready-to-wear collections, doing so with functional footwear was a new approach. Now, debuting their fourth collab, the brands have hit their stride.
The Copenhagen-based designer celebrated the launch of the ASICS x Cecilie Bahnsen GEL-TERRAIN sneaker at 41 Division in New York City this past weekend, ringing in the milestone with a special pop-up and a New York Fashion Week party complete with bites by Chef Suea and a chance to check out the brand’s recent AW24 collection.
Hypebeast chatted with Cecilie Bahnsen ahead of the celebration. Check it out below.
Hypebeast: What are some of your earliest ASICS memories and why did this collaboration feel natural to you?
Bahnsen: I have a lot of memories connected to running. I used to run a lot when I was younger, half marathons and crazy stuff. So those are my first memories of the vintage, silver trainers that are so iconic for me in terms of ASICS. It was also fun to see how we could add our codes to that universe and show our own take on it. It’s been incredible to see how open they are to letting us push what we do. For the collaboration, we got to go visit the archive and hear the history of all of the products. When you hear the thoughts that go into how they create and how they make the sneakers it is truly special. For us, we always talk about everyday couture and how you throw on the dresses and get on your bike, so we always wanted to do a trainer. When ASICS reached out it was that perfect sense of quality and ease. There are so many areas where we intersect and I feel every time we work together, it just gets stronger.
This is your fourth collaboration with the sneaker brand — how does this one build upon the foundations you’ve already established with the brand and what are some new aesthetic elements you incorporated into these designs?
It took a lot of prototypes to get to this final sneaker. We wanted something textural, like an embroidery element, on the shoe. I think the monochrome factor creates almost three different personalities who wear the different styles. You have the kind of darker romantic black one that has a real edge and then you have your earthy brown and then the poppy, playful red. I think this style taps into the first Mary Janes we did with ASICS as well. Even though it’s a complex shoe, it still feels very light and wearable.
Your designs, both your ready-to-wear and your footwear, are characterized by duality. What are some juxtaposing elements that can be found in the Cecilie Bahnsen x ASICS GEL-TERRAIN’s design?
The 3D flower appliques bring a sense of romance to something, essentially, quite masculine. We wanted to work with the least seams possible and just glue everything. Working on the textures was really important. We always design them for the show, so we were thinking about how they’d contrast those silhouettes as well.
Along with the sneaker collab, some of your AW24 collection will be displayed at the NYFW event. This collection took on a neutral color palette, allowing the billowing silhouettes and textural details to take front and center. What inspired this collection?
We wanted to touch on a darker kind of romance, moving away from the super pink and the super stereotypically feminine, but still really being us. It was great to embrace a different kind of femininity, pushing our skillset to the absolute max. I wanted to be loud about what I love to do — something very new for Scandinavians. But I think we really embodied that with that show, so that was quite exciting.
Many of your collections include couture elements as well. What other designers or eras inspire your artistic outlook?
Silhouette-wise, I always loved vintage couture Balenciaga, that very sculptural approach. I think he was very ahead of his time with that. I love the early Comme Des Garcçons collections and the juxtaposition of things as well as the Japanese take on femininity and texture. Those Houses really express themselves and I think, for me, that is what fashion is. It’s a way of expressing your personality and there should be energy and electricity in that.
Your design aesthetic embraces whimsicality and femininity. How did you bring those signature touches to this collaboration?
I think there’s something about being a woman designing for women that is super important and you truly understand how you want to feel in a piece, or a dress. I love events like this New York event we are hosting where people can get dressed up together and get excited about it. I think there’s something quite community-focused about it as well.
What are some of the most inventive ways you’ve seen the Cecilie Bahnsen x ASICS GEL-TERRAIN shoe styled? How do you like to style it?
Especially with ASICS, it’s been really fun to see men also wearing the shoes, like the Mary Janes. A friend of mine wore it with a pink sock and I loved it. I think we kind of just started breaking down those codes, which inspires me a lot. And then we also have started tapping into new communities — it’s been really exciting to see how people wear it in Korea. I really love the way that market styles these sneakers. Korean style has a really playful essence to it, similar to Copenhagen.
Do you have future plans to continue this partnership with ASICS? What can we expect next?
So we’re working on the next ASICS shoes for the show we have in two weeks, in Paris. I’m super excited about that, and we are taking it super Scandinavian. They’ll be fully waterproof and it’ll be something very different.
The Cecilie Bahnsen x ASICS GEL-TERRAIN will launch on October 16 via her website at a starting price of $255 USD.