PARIS – Asics highlighted its leverage of global reach and cultural resonance with the global launch of its latest tie-up with the Shanghai-based experimental label Empty Behavior, the go-to footwear brand for Blackpink member Lisa during tours. The two brands teamed on a new Hypersync model, built around a ballet-meets-wrestling narrative, that was introduced at cult Paris multibrand retailer The Broken Arm this week, ahead of a global launch on July 19.
For Empty Behavior founders Chen Yichang and Qian Zhou, taking the project to Paris was as much about context as visibility.
“For us, bringing this project to Paris was meaningful because it allowed the work to enter a broader creative conversation. We never saw this collaboration as something that should only speak to one local audience,” they said.
“Presenting it at The Broken Arm also felt natural. It is a place where fashion, design, and culture regularly intersect, so it created an environment where people could experience the project openly and form their own interpretations,” the duo added.
Positioned as part of a new generation of Chinese creative voices, Empty Behavior is mindful not to claim a singular national narrative around creativity.
“As a creative studio based in China, we are not trying to represent Chinese creativity as a single identity. We simply hope to contribute an authentic perspective shaped by where we come from. If our work can resonate with people from different cultural backgrounds and become part of a wider dialogue, then we feel the project has achieved something meaningful,” they said.
Asics x Empty Behavior event at the Broken Arm in Paris
The ongoing collaboration with Empty Behavior is rooted in Asics’ broader strategy of using cultural partnerships and tapping into China’s emerging creative networks to introduce new product concepts. The move also a vehicle to strengthen brand relevance among fashion-aware consumers who shop at the intersection of performance and lifestyle.
“Today’s consumers engage with brands through products, but they also engage through culture, community, and lifestyle,” said Koji Hayashi, president of Asics Greater China.
“Our responsibility as a brand extends beyond product innovation. We also need to create meaningful connections between products and the communities that shape contemporary consumer culture,” he added.
Koji Hayashi, president of Asics Greater China
From a product standpoint, Hypersync builds on the growing appetite for low-profile silhouettes. According to Asics, the sneaker, available in white/silver and black/pink colorways, reimagines a streamlined wrestling shoe with elements of the dance shoe. The design layers are taken from classical dance skirts and ruff collars. Soft textile tongues contrast with a rugged, mat-ready base.
Chen and Qian of Empty Behavior said the design followed their creative method of observing contradictions.
“We are interested in moments where different qualities coexist — strength and vulnerability, discipline and freedom, softness and power. When we began this collaboration, ballet and wrestling immediately stood out because they appear completely different, yet both demand extraordinary body awareness, precision, and control. To us, they are not opposing disciplines, but two expressions of the same physical language,” they said.
“We wanted to translate the tension between them into something people could feel through the product. Every material choice, proportion, and detail was considered as a way to express the balance between restraint and release. More importantly, we hope this collaboration encourages people to see movement beyond performance,” the duo added.
Asics x Empty Behavior event at the Broken Arm in Paris
Anson Du, product merchandising director for Asics SportStyle Greater China, noted that the brand has seen growing interest in low-profile silhouettes worldwide over the past few years.
“However, for us, the opportunity was never simply about following a trend. What attracted us to wrestling-inspired footwear was its unique relationship with movement,” he added.
“Hypersync was developed as a way to translate those athletic foundations into a more versatile lifestyle product. It reflects our belief that comfort, movement, and style should not exist separately, but as part of a single experience,” Du explained.
In Du’s eyes, launching the project through a community-driven activation at The Broken Arm during Paris’ Fête de la Musique in Paris created the right cultural context as it attracted the right people across product, design, music, and community before the wider global release.
“It allowed different creative disciplines and communities to come together naturally, making the collaboration part of a broader cultural conversation rather than a standalone product release. Today, creative communities are increasingly connected across cities and regions. We believe projects like this can create meaningful dialogue by bringing together different perspectives while remaining authentic to where they come from,” he added.
From left to right: Zhou Qian, Co-Founder, Empty Behavior; Nino Chen, Co-Founder, Empty Behavior; Anson Du, Product Merchandise Director, Asics SportStyle, Greater China.
The Hypersync release follows the previous collaboration on Gel-Nimbus 10.1, in liquid silver metallic, which helped establish Empty Behavior as a key partner within Asics’ orbit.
The launch also lands as Asics prepares to spin off its nearly 80-year-old Onitsuka Tiger brand into OT Group Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary that will serve as global headquarters from Jan. 1, 2027. The restructuring underscores the group’s push to clarify brand roles while escalating its lifestyle ambitions under both the Asics and Onitsuka umbrellas.
