New Balance's Lowkey Luxe, Highkey "Barefoot" Shoe Collab
Thanks to fashion's game of musical chairs with its creative directors, this season's Paris Fashion Week saw a few brands enter new eras. Not Junya Watanabe, though. The brand's Spring/Summer 2026 presentation is honestly classic Junya, down to the New Balance collaboration.
Although it wasn't as extensive as the usual smorgasbord of collabs served during its menswear shows, Junya Watanabe's womenswear collection did feature a fair share of partnerships for the spring season.
Most notably, Junya Watanabe linked with longtime collaborator and king of the dad shoes New Balance. At the SS26 presentation, the label revealed a New Balance MT10T sneaker in classic black and white colorways.
The slim yet rugged Vibram-soled sneaker hails from the brand's Minimus line of "barefoot" performance shoes. The MT10T is essentially a classic trail runner mashed with a Mary Jane and moc, dressed up and slimmed down to this slip-on fashion shoe that's still outdoor-ready.
Aimé Leon Dore made quite the splash with its take on the MT10T sneaker earlier this year, reimagining it as a water shoe offered in bold summery colors.
For the Junya Watanabe collab, New Balance's MT10T is still very much a minimalist sneaker in every sense of the word (sporty still, too). But it's even more luxe now, thanks to an extra-creamy leather update from the designer who helped make New Balance sneaker-loafers a normal thing.
Elsewhere on the SS26 runway, Junya Watanabe debuted a Stüssy collaboration and fresh, reconstructed garments with avant-garde twists. Again, classic Junya.
Note cards described the looks, which ranged from a "dress with court shoes" as shoulder pads to another garment made of GRIT "boxing gloves and shin guards." The label gave a new meaning to traveling lightly and stylishly with its ensemble made of "stockings and suitcases" coupled with its fine and flat New Balances.
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