Kith's Armani GEL MAI 0.1 Comes in Safari and Quarry

Kith, Giorgio Armani and ASICS have released the GEL MAI 0.1 in two versions, and Kith's own copy says it is the first time Armani and ASICS have been brought together. Both pairs were executed in premium hairy suede and nubuck with leather footbeds, and both arrive in custom packaging. The GEL MAI 0.1 is sold exclusively at Kith stores worldwide, Kith.com and the Kith App, and it answers a question that was still open a week ago.

The Shoe With No Date on October 9

When Ronnie Fieg posted the Dreams of the Dune mood board on October 9, Kith had shown a 54 look collection inspired by an Armani Sahara Desert collection and campaign from the late 1980s, and Sneaker Bar Detroit had already published an ASICS GEL Mai 0.1 named Dream of the Dune. No source then tied the sneaker to the 54 looks, and no date, retailer or price had been announced for it.

Kith's release copy now ties them together. The GEL MAI 0.1 is part of Dreams of the Dune, and the shoe takes its desert palette from the same collection. Dreams of the Dune is the sixth Armani project Kith has taken on since August 28, 2024, and the GEL MAI 0.1 is the first with ASICS.

Safari and Quarry, Both Built on Pigskin Suede

Sneaker coverage names the two pairs Safari and Quarry. Quarry uses pigskin suede with hairy suede overlays. Safari combines pigskin suede with nubuck. Dreams of the Dune artwork sits on the sockliner, and Kith packs both pairs in custom boxes.

Hairy suede is the detail to look at. It is a suede with a long, loose nap, the roughest finish on the shoe. Nubuck is the opposite treatment: leather sanded on the grain side into a fine, flat velvet. Putting the two on one shoe gives the upper two textures, one shaggy and one smooth, in a palette the release copy ties to the desert. The leather footbed is the quiet upgrade inside.

Kith's retail pitch is the material, not the model. The copy names hairy suede, nubuck, leather footbeds and custom packaging, and it does not name a technology.

October 16 at Kith Alone

The pairs went on sale Friday, October 16, with the rest of Dreams of the Dune, at Kith stores worldwide, Kith.com and the Kith App. The collection was shown in the Agafay Desert near Marrakech on October 9, with a members only screening on October 12 before the release. One outlet reports Kith Tokyo and Kith Osaka among the launch stores and says the line includes Diemme boots and a '47 cap collection. The sneaker itself is Kith only. Dates differ across coverage: Haute Living ties October 13 to the campaign shoot in Marrakech, while Hypebeast and Kith's own sale date both land on Friday, October 16, so the 16th is the date to trust for buying. Earlier reports had carried no date at all, which is why the shoe looked like a loose end a week ago.

Kith's ASICS record this autumn is long. On September 28 Ronnie Fieg and ASICS released the GEL Lyte III Remastered Salmon Toe for Kith's fifteenth anniversary, a pigskin nubuck shoe in a wood grain box that referenced Kith's first store. Four days later two Made in USA New Balance 990v3 pairs arrived on October 2. The company also published Kith: The Footwear Archive, a 444 page Assouline book that catalogs more than 1,800 collaborative models from Fieg's archive.

That makes the GEL MAI 0.1 the third Kith footwear release in 18 days: Salmon Toe on September 28, the 990v3 pairs on October 2 and this one on October 16. The first two were built from Kith's own history. This one brings in a house Kith has been working with since 2024.

Three Names on One Midsole

Armani, Kith and ASICS now share a shoe, and the pairing is lopsided in history. Kith has made six Armani projects in just over two years, and it has released ASICS shoes before, including September's Salmon Toe. Armani and ASICS had no collaboration until this one, by Kith's own account. Kith is the only party that has worked with both before, which is why the shoe is sold only in its stores.

No retail price appears in the release copy or in the coverage read, so none is quoted here. The sourcing is firm on the rest: two pairs, the materials, the exclusivity, the October 16 date and a collection that was shown in the Agafay Desert a week earlier.