Urban Elegance Meets Functional Futurism: Jun Takahashi and Nike’s GYAKUSOU

Running has never been as big as it is in 2026. Major Marathon spots are hard to secure, everyone and their mum is on Strava, and your local cafe definitely has a run club. And it’s a beautiful thing – any way to get people moving and brands innovating is welcome in the ‘sphere!

This boom has also opened up demand for labels to combine fashion-savvy design with ultra-teched performance footwear and apparel. Over the past few years we’ve seen this mixing of form and function in neat packages become a regular occurrence. Nike have both feet firmly on the wagon, deciding now is the (potential) perfect moment to resurrect an ahead-of-its-time sub-line called GYAKUSOU – made in collaboration with UNDERCOVER’s Jun Takahashi.

Nike haven’t officially locked in anything as of yet, but in an article featuring their Chief Design Officer Martin Lotti, an image includes a plastic container with ‘GYAKUSOU HO26’ printed on the inside. This could be huge for the world of running, as GYAKUSOU’s 2010 launch remains one of the most pivotal running x fashion crossovers of all time. It was a true collaboration, fusing Jun Takahashi’s love of running with Nike’s innovative tech that made major waves.

GYAKUSOU comes from the name of Takahashi’s own run club, dubbed ‘Gyakusou International Running Association’ (GIRA). The word means ‘running in reverse’ – club members would run clockwise around Tokyo’s Yoyogi Park, by contrast to the park’s usual anti-clockwise run-route.

The line’s idea came from Nike’s Global Energy Marketing Director Fraser Cooke, who saw the success of Yohji Yamamoto’s Y-3 and wanted to elevate the idea even further into a peak performance product. Takahashi was the perfect candidate to bring this to the Beaverton campus, because he had an organic passion for the sport and a keen eye for design. GYAKUSOU wasn’t a direct copy of Yohji’s adidas line, but instead took the blueprint and altered it to move away from avant-garde construction, instead leaning into full-blown performance.

GYAKUSOU officially debuted in October of 2010, with an aesthetic that exuded urban elegance meets functional futurism. Each of the pieces were tried and tested by Takahashi's own running crew, and prioritised function and movement above all – such as the inaugural collection’s shorts, which had pockets in places that wouldn’t affect a wearer’s movement. The first release also introduced the imprint’s infamous lightweight running jacket, a piece continually reinterpreted throughout the history of GYAKUSOU.

As the label evolved, apparel continued to act as a central point in the GYAKUSOU universe, with the line launching items like packable jackets, running tights, headbands and balaclavas. The pieces didn’t always look like your traditional running wear – they were modernised to appear effortlessly made, with colours chosen to blend into the environment and nature of the wearer.

By 2018, GYAKUSOU had launched multiple collections alongside sneakers like the Zoom Elite+ 5, Lunarspeed Lite, Zoom Streak 6, Lunarepic Flyknit Low 2 and Lunarspider Lt+3. That same year, UNDERCOVER collaborated on the React Element 87, which sent the Takahashi x Nike collaboration into the hype stratosphere – and in our opinion, led to some of GYAKUSOU’s best work in sneakers.

2019 delivered multiple colourways of the Pegasus 36 Turbo, Pegasus 36 Trail and Zoom Vaporfly 4%, and just a couple of years later came GYAKUSOU’s finale: 2021’s ultra-speedy ZoomX Vaporfly NEXT%. Alongside the stacked sneakers was a range of upgraded apparel, emblazoned with ‘GIRA’. Devotees will clearly remember those jackets, with perforations up the inside of the arms and solid red hoods to match the Vaporflys.

For over a decade, GYAKUSOU were at the pinnacle of the fashion x running crossover market, and built a cult following among those who live at the intersection of the two worlds. Takahashi and Nike’s efforts were ahead of the eight-ball, and are a perfect match for 2026’s running-obsessed culture. While Nike haven’t verified the official return one way or another, we wouldn’t be surprised to see some fresh GYAKUSOU turn up for the Holiday Season – and everyone should be keeping an eye on what GIRA are rocking at Yoyogi Park.

Keep up to date with all the supershoes winning major marathons in 2026 right here!