I’ve never really thought of Asics as a cool brand. In the coolness stakes it has to be Nike and Adidas and then maybe Puma, but I’ve always thought of Asics being the workhorse brand for runners. Having been recommended by my phsyio to get a pair of Asics I headed up to the new Asics store off Oxford Street to test out their new 3D foot scanner and Gait recorder and have to admit to coming away with an entirely different perception of their brand.

The scanner and gait system they have is the first outside of Japan so you get to see your running gait analysed in slow motion to determine the best shoe for your running style (which is invaluable) but the staff are superb, incredibly knowledgeable about running and all the issues that you can face long-term. I was shown the best stretches, recommended a couple of books to read and overall they were great and didn’t try to sell me more stuff (I actually came away wanting more than I bought).

The store itself is designed in a pristine white that gives a really hi-tech, outer-space like feel to the place, it’s on two floors and has a different feel to it than say the Nike store, maybe it’s because the target market really is athletes and active sports people rather than those wanting the latest cool trainers.

So maybe Asics don’t have the brand coolness of the others but if you want ‘proper’ sports gear then Asics are the new cool for me.