The Sneakerlah x Hundred% x Asics Gel Lyte III is inspired by the iconic Malaysian landmark, the Petronas Twin Towers. These drop on December 19.

The Sneakerlah x Hundred% x Asics Gel Lyte III, dubbed the “Petronas Twin Towers”, drops globally on December 19. The sneakers are a follow-up to their sold-out Asics Gel-Kayano 5 OG Nasi Lemak which dropped in 2019.

“We wanted something as iconic as the nasi lemak, that not only resonates with Malaysians, but with the global sneaker community. That’s why we went with the Petronas Twin Towers,” Bryan Chin, founder of Sneakerlah, told Straatosphere.

Twin Towers

Every detail on their Gel Lyte III is inspired by an aspect of the iconic Twin Towers. Silver overlays and mesh wrap the entire sneaker, referencing the tower’s metallic facade. To replicate the changing colors of the towers’ glass windows through the day, the Gel Lyte IIIs are given green iridescent vectors on the medial and lateral sides. The dark green translucent outsole creates the effect of looking through the towers’ windows. Further, there’s a patch on the split tongue bearing some trivia about the Twin Towers.

It’s raining, lah

Malaysia, much like most places with tropical weather, is known to experience rainfall throughout the year. As a result, these Malaysia-inspired sneakers get speckled cream midsoles that represent rain droplets—a nod to the country’s unpredictable showers.

Grounding the sneaker firmly in Malaysian culture is the word lah debossed at the heel. The colloquial term lah is used commonly to punctuate sentences in speech and has become somewhat of a hallmark of the Malaysian vernacular.

[pullquote]“The feedback has been pretty overwhelming, although we have gotten some feedback from some European sneakerheads who feel it’s too shiny. But for us Malaysians who know how iconic the Twin Towers are, and also how much we use the word “lah” in our everyday lives, these elements are really something we can appreciate.”[/pullquote]

The Sneakerlah x Hundred% x Asics Gel Lyte III is one of the collaborations to drop in the Gel Lyte III’s 30^th anniversary year, making it a pretty big deal.

“It’s the 30^th anniversary of the Gel Lyte III so I guess it was quite a no-brainer that we went with the silhouette. It’s also the most popular silhouette amongst sneakerheads when it comes to Asics’ line up,” said Bryan.

The sneaker will be first released through a Malaysia-exclusive raffle at Sneakerlah.com—registration opens from December 3 to 4. If you score a W on the ballot, your pair will come in a special packaging that’s exclusive to the Sneakerlah drop.

Everyone else will have to wait for the global release on December 19, lah.

All images: Sneakerlah