Kiko Kostadinov x ASICS ILARGI FF II Lands in Japan in Two New Tincture

• A Nearly Decade-Long Design Dialogue
• From Marathon Tabi to Astronaut Archive
• Construction and Colorways
• The BUCKLE YUP Campaign Keeps Evolving
• Release Details and Where to Buy in Japan

Kiko Kostadinov is a Bulgarian designer based in London whose work reconstructs the functional logic of workwear and uniforms through sharp pattern-cutting and a distinctive sense of color, an approach that has made him one of the more closely watched voices in contemporary fashion. His collaboration with ASICS began in 2018, and following 2020 his studio also took on a curatorial role across ASICS’s Sportstyle line, pushing what started as a straightforward collaboration into something closer to an ongoing creative partnership. In recent years that relationship has extended into ASICS NOVALIS, a line that elevates the brand’s archival and competition-grade functional design into a more elevated, considered aesthetic.

For 2026, the pair turned their attention to Japanese tabi construction, building a themed sneaker collection around the split-toe silhouette. According to official sources, which has tracked the series’ Japan rollout, the ILARGI FF opened the collection with a modern reworking of ASICS’s 1953 “Marathon Tabi,” an archival running shoe that first introduced the split-toe shape to competitive distance running. The LYASA FF followed, translating that same tabi structure into a slip-on form and shifting the silhouette’s functional roots toward something closer to everyday wear.

 

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Where the first two releases drew on ASICS’s running heritage, the ILARGI FF II shifts reference points entirely. The shoe is said to take its inspiration from a tabi-style training shoe developed for astronaut conditioning that sits in ASICS’s archive — reframing the tabi’s original purpose, gripping the ground underfoot, into something closer to a tool for sharpening bodily awareness during training. That conceptual pivot, from distance-running function to a more abstract training reference, is very much in keeping with Kostadinov’s recurring interest in taking a familiar functional object and pushing it toward something more intellectual and forward-looking, and it gives the ILARGI FF II a noticeably more futuristic mood than its two predecessors.

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The ILARGI FF II is built around a mesh-based upper, layered with fine patterning and flowing reinforcement panels that build toward a considered, stylish silhouette rather than a purely technical one. The toe remains split along the thumb side, carrying the tabi structure forward from the first two releases, while a cursive “ILARGI” logo sits along the side panel. Underfoot, a noticeably thicker sole unit houses ASICS’s full-length FlyteFoam midsole technology, built around a split structure that extends into the forefoot alongside a curved traction pattern — a combination that keeps the shoe’s running-shoe functionality intact while giving it a more sculptural, considered appearance than a standard show trainer.

The release introduces two colorways: a light green paired with a deeper emerald tone, and a gray mesh upper offset by black line detailing and an aqua blue sole. Both lean into a more tonal, considered palette than the higher-contrast Carbon and Electric Blue pairing that launched the original ILARGI FF, in keeping with Kostadinov’s general preference for restrained color stories over loud branding.

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Each tabi release this year has arrived alongside a chapter of BUCKLE YUP, an experimental, musical-style campaign from American artist Ryan Trecartin, shot across Tokyo and Okinawa with a cast of fifteen local performers. Act one, “Cue Shoes,” accompanied February’s ILARGI FF launch with an event in Los Angeles; act two, “Lip Sink Muzak,” marked the LYASA FF’s Tokyo debut in April. Act three, titled “Voice-Undered Romantic,” is tied to the ILARGI FF II and is set for a London event this month, continuing Trecartin’s use of machine-learning-generated vocals and fractured pop songwriting to build out a season-long narrative about shoes, romance, and side hustles. The full-length culmination of the project, also titled BUCKLE YUP, is expected later in the year.

The campaign has become as much a talking point as the shoes themselves, with Kostadinov giving Trecartin full creative control over tone and narrative rather than treating the videos as conventional product marketing — a choice that fits his broader pattern of using unconventional formats, from gallery-style store fit-outs to genre-bending campaigns, to frame each ASICS collaboration as more than a straightforward drop.

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The ILARGI FF II is expected to follow the rollout pattern set by the first two releases in the series, with availability through ASICS Japan and the Kiko Kostadinov webstore, alongside select Tokyo stockists which has been tracking the release. A Japan release window of July 9–11 has been cited for this drop, though the exact date should be confirmed directly against ASICS Japan’s own release calendar before publish. Retail pricing has not been officially confirmed for this release; the first ILARGI FF launched at roughly $230–250 USD depending on region, which may offer a rough benchmark pending an official price sheet.

Given the pace of this rollout — four shoes and four campaign chapters inside a single year — the ILARGI FF II is likely to move quickly through Japan’s resale-driven sneaker market once official stock numbers and pricing are confirmed, following the pattern set by its two predecessors in the series. With a fourth and final tabi model still to come later this year, early interest in the ILARGI FF II may also be shaped by collectors looking to complete the full four-part set.