Nowhere in the world can you get shoes like those at BIOTOP. The Japanese retailer is more than just a purveyor of good taste — it stocks much of what Highsnobiety considers “good clothes,” from the artisanal workwear of A.PRESSE to the lowkey menswear master Comoli. BIOTOP also frequently collaborates with these giants of patient fashion.

Guidi, the god-tier Italian avant shoemaker, has been object-dying BIOTOP-exclusive shoes for years, while old-school shoemaker Paraboot makes work shoes to BIOTOP’s specifications in its French workshop, and century-old American bootmaker Red Wing gives its most classic designs the BIOTOP treatment. Now it’s time for Germany’s heritage sandalmaker to get involved.

Making BIOTOP-approved Birkenstocks means changing surprisingly little about the sandals. But the results are unsurprisingly slick.

BIOTOP’s bespoke Kyoto is essentially a Birkenstock Zurick, except fitted with one single velcro strap as opposed to two. This technically makes them slides, although these are far less sporty than a pair of adilettes. 

This special-edition pair turns the Kyoto all-black and then garnishes it with a shiny black strap for contrast. And as simple as that, the elderly slider is both more minimal and more luxurious. As I’ve recently argued, sometimes all a simple product needs is a small touch of leather.

Pre-orders for the elegant sandals, priced at ¥34,100 (around $213), open on June 5, but the shoes don’t hit BIOTOP’s shelves until later this month, on June 27. And since this is just the duo’s debut collection, you can probably expect more blacked-out and beautiful Birks where these came from.

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