Kiko Kostadinov is INFJ-A, although he’s not entirely sure what that means. “Someone in Korea asked me [what my MTBI was] recently, and I had no idea about it before that,” he chuckles. “I know it has something to do with being a positive influence to the world, and I would love to learn more about it, but I’m too busy with my design work!”

And of all the hats Kostadinov wears, the one of a busy designer is indeed the most prominent. He’s in Shanghai to host a pop-up with ASICS for the launch of the latest co-created footwear silhouette in their Novalis line — the GEL-STYRAX, a boldly-branded love child of a running shoe and a mule — and its accompanying apparel, smack-dab in the middle of Shanghai Fashion Week. ASICS’ Shanghai flagship is decked out for the occasion with a playground-inspired buildout that displays the latest effort from the brand’s fruitful partnership with Kostadinov’s Kiko Kostadinov Studio, and in between greeting fans, trying to catch his breath and taking in the scene, he took a moment to discuss his design process, how he channels his creativity through other outlets like OTTO 958 and more.

Hi Kiko. Great to see you in Shanghai. Over your years in fashion, you’ve gained so much attention and evolved so much as a designer. How would you say your approach to design has grown and changed during your career?

Hi Hypebeast, my honor to be here. Everything’s happened so quickly in my career, so it doesn’t feel like it’s been a long time — and honestly, I haven’t had a chance to step back and review my work. Because of that, I’m constantly surprising myself, and I always try to keep a fresh-out-of-school mentality so I can learn new things.

I’m just excited to keep doing what I’ve been doing and spend as much time in the studio with my team as possible. I don’t see myself as a creative director, more so as a designer who wants to be hands-on with every part of the process. We’re still very niche, and the amount of stores we sell to is small. There’s no big plan for expansion, and we’d rather spend our time designing than working on business. But, as we all know, that’s hard to do when you have your own brand.

What’s it like finding the right collaborative partner who shares your vision when you’re so keenly involved in every aspect of the design process?

A lot of people want to spend more time discussing a project than actually working on it, whereas I’d rather just touch, feel and try. More manual stuff, and fewer rounds of back-and-forth emailing and Zoom meetings. When our partners understand that, the results are amazing because the hard part — finding the right partner — has already been taken care of.

Take ASICS for example: over the last six years, they’ve always let me do what I feel is correct, and that kind of freedom is very important for me if I’m to do my job correctly.

And your newest Novalis line with ASICS seems right on time. What are some key differences between this offering and previous Novalis seasons, and how does this collection encapsulate ASICS’ “Sound Mind, Sound Body” philosophy?

We didn’t want to completely change the design language we’d established over our first two seasons because we’d spent a lot of time building the silhouettes for this collection and getting the fit just right. Those little details would often evolve and help us create new pieces. We’ve already decided to do a fourth and fifth season after this one, so there’s a lot of continuity in the line.

For this season, we aimed to encapsulate “Sound Mind, Sound Body” through more of a visual meditation — we cast a lot of musicians and models in London to lock in the concept, and it was quite exciting to see how the Novalis garments could be worked into daily life, even alongside mainline Kiko Kostadinov products.

Kiko Kostadinov products, both in-line and collaborative, have a singular aesthetic. How do you keep that aesthetic consistent and recognizable while continuing to innovate and remain creative?

There are various gestures that travel through the brand’s seasons, and those are shown in their most dramatic fashion on our runway show: that’s the moment when I can be self-indulgent with the brand’s signature designs. We always want to be distinguishable from other brands — it’s like claiming territory.

For anyone trying to understand our brand’s design language, it’s important to look at the silhouette, details, and construction. We try to apply those over collaborations and in-line products as well, and with the in-line products, we’ll change shape and style a bit to ensure the line continues to evolve. It’s also essential to have products that aren’t as seasonal, so the language isn’t locked into any particular time period.

All in all, it’s still a very “me” state of mind. I can switch my design thinking depending on how I look at my brand: I could go more commercial, increase the scale or decrease it. I can change the collection the day before a runway show, or I could show it to only five people. There’s no merchandiser or commercial director who tells me what to do. It’s all personal, and that makes it very fun.

OTTO 958 is another one of your creative ventures. What’s your vision for it?

It’s more of a fun project with my friend Al Moran. He has a gallery in LA, Morán Morán, and I did a show there during COVID. OTTO 958 was the name of the art show exhibition, and it became the label. At first, we just did some T-shirts and other merch for the exhibition. It's still a bit of an ongoing thing. I think there's a lot of opportunity for the project because we have such access through the fashion world and then through the art world, but we don't have time to focus on it entirely.

An ASICS collaboration is releasing next month, and it’ll be sold in our Tokyo and LA stores (the LA store is right next to Morán Morán). We just want to keep it low-key, though, because if OTTO 958 becomes a “business,” we might get too analytical with it.

A bit about your personal life: Do you know your MBTI?

I’m INFJ-A. Someone in Korea asked me that question recently, and I had no idea about it before that. I know it has something to do with being a positive influence to the world, and I would love to learn more about it, but I’m too busy with my design work!

You have a huge fan base here in Shanghai. What’s it like to get that love?

I know! [laughs]. I try not to pay too much attention to it so I don’t get big-headed. I always hear about it from my team, but I see it when I travel. I’m always surprised by the reaction I get in New York and Korea. Even here in Shanghai, we bumped into some guys wearing our brands’ pieces, and they were so excited to meet us. We’d like to come back here soon, too. We have a few retail partners, and they showed us a lot on social media.

Are there any subcultures that you’ve been interested in recently?

There aren’t really any subcultures these days. Everything seems to be one big scene that winds up existing online. The microcultures I’m into mainly relate to the past. Any modern ones are so niche that they don’t even wind up on the Internet: you have to get out and go find them. I have seen a few exciting things on the internet recently though, like plank wrestling. It’s all based on research. It takes a lot of time to find interesting new ideas.