I find myself looking at the sole of this shoe first, and only then at the color. That doesn’t happen often. The ASICS GEL-NYC in Cream, Mineral Beige and Pink has an outsole with so much going on that everything else almost feels secondary.
What you see
The base is a cream-colored mesh, lightweight and finely woven. Suede panels in a soft beige-gray shade are layered over it, with silver-toned, lightly reflective sections in between that emphasize the shoe’s shape. There’s pink suede on the toe box and around the heel, while the ASICS logo on the side comes in the same shade of pink.
The midsole is built up from several layers in cream and beige, with a visible pink GEL unit in the heel. That isn’t decorative—it’s ASICS’ cushioning element, simply left exposed here. Underneath is a white outsole.
So yes, it’s busy. Four or five materials, three color families, plenty of seams. And yet it doesn’t feel disjointed, because everything stays within the same soft, slightly faded palette. The pink is the only color that really stands out, and that’s exactly enough.
Would I wear it myself?
Yes, especially on days when I’ll be doing a lot of walking. That may sound obvious for a sneaker with a running background, but with this silhouette, it really is the main selling point. The sole is substantial, the collar is padded, and you sit higher off the ground than you would in a flat leather sneaker. You notice that after a few hours on the street.
The color does make it a little more vulnerable. Cream mesh and light suede aren’t the materials you want to cycle through a rain shower in if you expect them to come out looking exactly the same. That’s not a dealbreaker, but it’s worth knowing before buying them as your only pair.
They’re easier to style than they look. Because the pink is soft and washed-out rather than bright, the shoe behaves in practice like a neutral beige sneaker with an accent. Gray, off-white, denim and sandy tones all work well. Black works too, but the contrast between the upper and the sole becomes much sharper.
Price and availability
This model is clearly in demand: it currently has a Hypescore of 85 with us, placing it in the ATOMIC tier. Availability is broad, with seventeen active listings across fifteen stores.
The price range is wide, though. Prices run from around 116 to 370 euros, with the midpoint sitting at about 185. The original retail price was 150. Two of the fifteen sellers are regular online stores; the rest are marketplaces and international platforms, and prices tend to rise within that latter group. That explains the top end of the range: those aren’t better shoes, just different sellers.
In my view, that’s the most important thing to keep in mind. If you pay 370 euros, you’re paying more than twice what the middle of the market is asking for exactly the same shoe. So take a moment to compare prices, and enter your size, because some of those lower prices apply to leftover sizes.
Other versions can be found under ASICS GEL-NYC, and you’ll find the wider range at ASICS.