Aspden began collaborating with adidas in the 1990s, and gained prominence through successful outreach with celebrities while working for the entertainment marketing team. After nine years with adidas UK, he founded his own consulting agency, Darwen Design, but is the chief curator of adidas' Spezial line, which he created in 2013.[6][7]
In October 2019, he held an exhibition of more than 1,000 trainers in Blackburn as part of the British Textile Biennial.[8]
In July 2024, a section of Knott Street in Darwen, Lancashire, was renamed Gary Aspden Way.[9]