After months of anticipation, it seems that Nike GYAKUSOU is finally back.
Neither the Swoosh nor Jun Takahashi have commented on the renewal of their performance running partnership, but a profile on Nike's Chief Design Officer, Martin Lotti, previewed plans of GYAKUSOU for the Holiday 2026 season. The 21st Setagaya 246 Half Marathon in Japan, which took place on Nov. 8, unveiled one of the renewed collaboration's first projects: a GYAKUSOU Alphafly 4 marathon racer.
Two runners—Aaron Robinson and Lono Brazil III—laced up the co-branded racing shoe for the half marathon, clocking finishing times of under 1 hour, 20 minutes. Pictures of the duo were captured and shared to Instagram by @rerun_tokyo and reported on by Lei Takanashi on X.
A first glimpse of the marathon racer doesn't seem too different from standard pairs of the Alphafly 4, although Takahashi's "GYAKUSOU" branding appears on the midsole of the popular racer.
It's still too early to tell exactly what plans Nike and the UNDERCOVER-frontman have for their renewed partnership, but the emergence of a GYAKUSOU Alphafly 4 suggests that the Japanese designer, runner, and tastemaker will remain true to his original vision for Nike GYAKUSOU—which is to apply his particular vision of cool and propose athlete-first tweaks to Nike Running products.
If Takahashi has gotten a chance to touch the Alphafly 4, it's possible he'll get the opportunity to rework the Nike Apex silhouettes at some point. He'll likely begin with daily trainers from the Pegasus and Vomero lines, however.
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