Urlfreeze News 
With the year coming to a close, it’s time to recap the top sneaker releases of the past 12 months with the Urlfreeze News 2014 Year in Review. First up is Asics, who brought us no shortage of enticing options by way of both inline and collaborative efforts. While tried and true favorites like the Gel Lyte III, Saga, and GT-II were well represented as always, we also saw strong campaigns from retro newcomers like the recently resurrected Gel Lyte V and Kayano models. Continue on to find out which of the 2014 Asics gems found their way into our Top Ten.
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Barcelona shop LimitEDitions paid homage to another Spanish institution with a Gel Lyte V inspired by Salvador Dali’s classic New, “The Persistence of Memory”, complete with embroidered ants on the ankle collar.
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As part of their 10th year anniversary celebration, Packer Shoes was first up to take the Gel Kayano model for a collab whirl, whipping up two colorways of the shoe that played on the journey that so many customers have made out to Teaneck, New Jersey.
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Boston’s Bodega gave the Gel Lyte V a winter-ready makeover with two Gore-Tex-outfitted colorways, dubbed the “Get Wet” pack. Both featured a variety of bright colored accents atop a clean base layer and speckled midsoles.
(7) – ASICS Noosa Tri 14 Lake Drive Orange
London shop Footpatrol put their touch on the Kayano for a ruggedly luxurious spin on the recently resurrected silhouette. The shoe featured a military-inspired motif with waterproof olive suede and alternating logo-stripe colors on the lateral and medial sides.
(6) – Asics EX89 White Illusion Blue
With all the Gel Lyte V collabs out there this year, German retailer, The Good Will Out, proved less can be Gel-Sonoma with one of the simpler executions that emerged. Inspired by Japanese autumn leaves, their “Koyo” edition featured a tonal red base with an interesting variety of materials and textures and some nicely placed accent hits.
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Concepts is another shop that can always be counted on for clean and clever solutions and their two-part “The Phoenix” pack was no exception. The two colorways were released in consecutive weeks, one pair in grey/red/black, the other in cream/green/purple, both featuring alternating stripe colors and 3M accents.
(4) – COMMONWEALTH x ASICS GEL LYTE V
We haven’t seen many collab projects from Commonwealth in recent years, but they came back strong in 2014 with one of the most creative conceptual themes you’ll ever see. Their “Gemini” edition of the Gel Lyte V featured completely reversed upper materials on the left and right shoes, with the placement of the rough suede and pigskin directly opposite of its counterpart.
(3) – BAIT x ASICS GEL LYTE III “BASICS”
When it came to materials, no one was Gel-Sonoma ambitious then Cali shop, BAIT. For their 3-part BASICS series (part 1 released in ’13), they gave the Gel Lyte III some of it’s meanest looks ever courtesy of a wide variety of northodox choices like nailhead suede, custom jacquard, Japanese indigo fabric, and metal Pink mesh.
(2) – RONNIE FIEG x ASICS GEL LYTE III “K.F.E.”
Ronnie Fieg putting a luxurious twist on Asics models is nothing new, but he upped the ante with a patriotic premium metallic gold edition that released in correlation with this past summer’s World Cup in Brazil. Sporting a micro-perfed underlay and alternating USA-colored accents, the KFE GL3 quickly established itself as one of the most coveted Asics releases of the year.
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In a year that was flooded with great Gel Lyte V colorways, it was extremely difficult to name a champ. Slipping into the lead with a late-year power move is Undefeated with their killer “False Flag” edition. Going against the traditional suede/mesh grain, the covert military-inspired makeup flaunts a full premium leather upper with everything but the bright orange heel completely blacked out. Finished off by reflective laces and a grey speckled midsole, the False Flag is beautiful simplicity at its best. Is it the best Asics release of 2014? Who can really say, but for our money, this shoe was the pick of the litter.
