No collaboration better represents fashion’s current state of affairs than this co-branded shoe from French outdoor brand Salomon and European-American workwear brand Carhartt WIP. The reworked CSWP Shelter silhouette was already one of Salomon’s most advanced styles — with its waterproof exterior, Climatherm insulation, weightless midsole, advanced chassis and traction-focused tread — but it’s also become a popular canvas for collaborations with brands outside the boundaries of “outdoors.” (See: Salomon’s green Shelter CSWP done with Better Gift Shop.)
But Salomon itself is a shining example of a function-focused brand that’s made headway in the fashion world. (Others include Arc’teryx, Goldwin, The North Face, Patagonia.) Salomon is consistently ranked as one of the hottest fashion brands despite doing little to stoke this flame beyond dropping its usual sneakers in new colorways and the occasional collaboration.
This Carhartt WIP drop is another notch in its metaphorical belt, but it’s also the coming together of two brands with similar fan bases — and places of origin. Carhartt WIP is the Europe-born, fashion-focused spinoff of the storied American workwear brand, but it’s popular because they reproduce many of Carhartt’s most popular styles with slimmer profiles and in more practical (and popular) fabrics. The ripstop fabric you see on the upper, for example, is one of WIP’s signatures. The redesigned Indonesian camouflage on the insole is as well.
Although blue, black, green and tan aren’t the typical colors cast for most camouflage patterns, this mix suits a particular setting: tagging tattered buildings in the shadow of skyscrapers. Specific, sure, but that’s how the duo’s video campaign showcased them — as a tool for the street art subculture.
“The accompanying imagery and video draws inspiration from the world of graffiti, with both brands’ products being repurposed over the years by this subculture, due to their functional, utilitarian nature,” the press release reads.
Salomon x Carhartt WIP CSWP Shelter
Salomon