Born in 2011, Italian footwear company RBRSL, formerly known as RubberSoul, has been focused on breaking the existing norms of consumer culture by creating shoes with longevity in mind. Furthermore, RBRSL believes that the act of upcycling is a transversal phenomenon as not only is it helping the planet, but it shows us just how many ways there are to put discarded materials to use.
For its SS22 collection, RBRSL drew conceptual ideas from the French modernist painter Edouard Manet, who didn’t paint real life but instead used his medium to express his feelings. The brand has added more models to its Bold collection, turning to nature as one of the key inspirations. The spring-summer collection is an eclectic mash-up of classic design and innovation, blending natural forms with new colorways and geometric shapes. Through this dialogue comes a crossover of language with underlying attention to subtle details while retaining RBRSL’s mission to be free and rebellious.
Maintaining RBRSL’s trademark technical specs, the shoes are handmade from quality leather with rubber detailing. The models have double strings, a payoff tongue with an embossed slogan, hand-applied coating, and the brand’s signature rubber soles. One silhouette in particular features a zipper that transforms the shoe from a mid-top to a low-top. Another unique capsule comprises a transparent sole with inserts of chamomile seeds, flowers, and lavender, a tribute to nature as an essential matrix, and a journey back to our origins. RBRSL has also added Zest, a running shoe with the brand’s typical coating with a porous textured sole as citrus peel. The Bold collection features an added yellow and grey sneaker as well as the usual predominant black and white colorways. The yellow represents the ideas of rebirth, light, and liveliness, while the grey symbolizes resilience, the strength of stone, and solid, unmovable power in the face of difficulty - RBRSL is always looking to the future with confidence and courage.
The Bold collection is available online here.
