Asics

History

Main article: Onitsuka Tiger

Asics began as Onitsuka Co., Ltd. on September 1, 1949. Founder began manufacturing basketball shoes in his hometown of Kobe in Hyōgo Prefecture. The range of sports activities serviced by the company expanded to a variety of Olympic styles used since the 1950s by athletes worldwide. Onitsuka became particularly known for the Mexico 66 design, in which the distinctive crossed stripes (now synonymous with the company as the Tiger Stripes) were featured for the first time; martial artist Bruce Lee helped popularize the shoe. Onitsuka Tiger merged with fishing and sporting goods company GTO and athletic uniform maker Jelenk to form ASICS Corporation in 1977; Onitsuka was named president of the new company. Despite the name change, a vintage range of Asics shoes are still produced and sold internationally under the Onitsuka Tiger label. In 2015, Asics launched its Asics Tiger lifestyle brand to market sportswear inspired by the company's designs of the 1970s to 1990s.

Asics bought the Swedish outdoor brand Haglöfs for ($128.7 million) on July 12, 2010. In February 2016, Asics acquired fitness app Runkeeper. LionRock Capital Limited acquired a 100% interest in Haglöfs from Asics on December 18, 2023.

Asics generated in net sales and in net income in fiscal year 2023. 50% of the company's income came from the sale of performance running shoes, 33% from other shoes, 6% from apparel and equipment, and 11% from Onitsuka Tiger. 16% of the company's sales were in Japan, 21% in North America, 27% in Europe, 14% in China and 21% in other regions.

In January 2016, the operator of Asics stores in the US, Windsor Financial Group LLC, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection amid an ongoing dispute with the Asics company.

In March 2021, Asics launched Unoha (ウノハ), a brand geared towards women. The brand mainly sells its products online and does not use physical locations other than temporary pop-ups that appear around Japan. Apart from being a female-focused clothing brand, it also pledged to use organic and environmentally-friendly materials in its products. Unoha's first brand ambassador was Harumi Sato. On July 1, 2024, Asics announced that it had discontinued the brand the previous month after only 3 years of existence.

Relationship with Nike

Nike, Inc. (originally known as Blue Ribbon Sports) was founded to sell Onitsuka Tiger shoes in the U.S. When Phil Knight visited Japan in 1963, shortly after graduating from Stanford University, he was impressed by the company's shoes, and immediately visited the Onitsuka Tiger office and asked to be their U.S. sales agent. After a number of years, the relationship crumbled and both companies sued each other, with Nike retaining the naming rights to several shoes.

Sponsorships

Asics sponsors a variety of sports associations, teams and individuals; sponsorships include World Athletics, the Los Angeles Marathon, the Brazilian Paralympic Committee, as well as individual athletes such as volleyball player Ran Takahashi, footballer Takehiro Tomiyasu, basketball player Yuki Kawamura, and tennis players Novak Djokovic, Alex de Minaur, Beatriz Haddad Maia, Laura Pigossi and Jasmine Paolini. The company announced on October 4, 2011, that it would be the new official kit manufacturer for the Australia national cricket team, replacing German manufacturer Adidas. Asics is also the official sportswear partner of the Japanese Olympic Committee.

Working conditions

In March 2017, employees assembling Asics products in Cambodia fainted due to thick smoke present in the factory where they were working. The company responded to this by saying that it, along with the factory in question, would "address specific measures, with a focus on workers' awareness and health and safety training, as well as including an improved air ventilation system".

In March 2021, while several Western clothing brands expressed concern over allegations of forced Uyghur labor involved in Xinjiang cotton production, Asics also announced that the Australian Olympic team uniform would not contain cotton sourced from Xinjiang.

Gallery

File:Asics brand logo (1977–2003).svg|alt=The Asics logo from 1977 to 2006.|The Asics logo from 1977 to 2006. The typeface, designed by Herb Lubalin, is still used for the Asics Tiger line. File:Asics wrestling shoes.jpg|A pair of Asics wrestling shoes, model Split Second V File:Kinsei.jpg|A pair of Asics running shoes, model GEL-Kinsei File:Asics Gel-Pulse 11.jpg|A pair of Asics running shoes, model Gel-Pulse 11 File:Asics Gel-Cumulus 22.jpg|Asics Gel-Cumulus 22, men's running shoes File:ASICS Gel-Kayano 26 (womens).jpg|Asics Gel-Kayano 26, women's running shoes File:Asics shoe.jpg|An Asics sports shoe

References

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