Old school hiking boots, with their metal lace hooks, beefy sole units, and rugged leather uppers, might be some of the most practical and hard-wearing shoes you can find. That is, unless you buy BLUEMARBLE and Diemme’s version.
The Parisian fashion brand has utilized Diemme’s shoemaking prowess to create a shoe with all the features of a hiking boot, except the back has been chopped off. It’s been mule-ified, so to speak.
These frankly bizarre slip-ons, with their grippy Vibram sole unit and silver metal eyelets, also have an oversized padded tongue that hangs over the back of the sole where the top half of a hiking boot would normally be—but this is removable if you prefer not to have the tongue flapping around on the top of your foot.
The BLUEMARBLE x Diemme Maggiore is a shoe that, for all of its outdoor-focused features, isn't going to be particularly practical in the great outdoors.
If you ever were to traverse a tricky hiking trail in these, you can expect them to slip off at some point or for the huge tongue to get caught on something.
However, hiking isn't really what these shoes were made for, instead, it’s a combination of two current footwear trends brought together to make a striking design.
The list of shoes that have recently been turned into mules is ever-expanding, ranging from the classic Jordan 1 to luxury leather derbies, and hiking boots are not exempt from joining the trend for heelless shoes.
A style of boot that has seen an uptick in popularity recently (as proven by recent collaborations from Dutch powerhouse Patta, streetwear OGs Stüssy, and the ever-reliable source of collaborations that is Kith) there is some precedent for turning hiking boots into mules. Last year, Fugazi played a similar trick with the LA-based brand’s Tibet mules selling out almost instantly.
If there's one thing this proves, it's that no shoe is safe from being turned into a slip-on. The mulement is still going strong.
