Balenciaga is touching grass in the most literal sense. Under Pierpaolo Piccioli's stewardship, Balenciaga is moving away from its industrial and ironic past into an era more heavily grounded in, well, the ground. 

Specifically, Balenciaga is becoming one with nature through shockingly practical hiking sandals, and now a tastefully deconstructed neutral mule is entering the chat. 

This isn't your mother's Balenciaga. It's your amateur hiking enthusiast's friend's Balenciaga.

The Pace Hybrid sneaker mule has big moccasin energy demonstrated by its soft suede construction and puckered stitching. Naturally, Balenciaga still found a way to get a little weird with it, opting for a rubber outsole that folds in the sneaker aspect. 

Speaking of folding, the fusion offerings don't stop there. The Pace Hybrid also wears a collapsible heel that folds in on itself, effectively making this a sneaker, moccasin, and mule. Talk about a triple threat.

Compared to other Balenciaga sneakers, the Pace Hybrid is considerably slim, a recurring trend in the footwear world at large and within the Balenci-verse in particular. Lest we forget, Balenciaga made a shoe so thin it barely qualifies as a shoe at all.

That is to say, it's simply not enough for a sneaker to just be flat; it needs to be caving in on itself to really make a statement these days, and that's exactly what the Pace Hybrid's collapsible heel provides.

Highsnobiety has affiliate marketing partnerships, which means we may receive a commission from your purchase. Want to shop the products our editors actually love? Visit our SHOPPER page and subscribe to the newsletter for recs on all things fashion, footwear, and beauty.