Salomon is well-versed in the art of collaboration. Many even claim the French mountain brand set the standard for fusing function-driven design with fashion-leaning sensibilities with its impressive list of team-ups. But, before there was Salomon x Palace, Salomon x Margiela MM6, or even Salomon x Hidden NY, there was Salomon x 11 by Boris Bidjan Saberi.
The partnership with German-Iranian designer Boris Bidjan Saberi was one of Salomon’s first collaborations, not to mention one of the first partnerships between a fashion figure and an outdoor brand as a whole.
The two first came together in 2016 when founder Boris Bidjan Saberi approached Salmon about creating a collaborative version of the Speedcross 3, a shoe that had caught his attention on a trail-running friend. Expecting no response, he was delighted to receive a strong “yes” and the rest, as they say, is history.
From the start, the two pushed the boundaries of what technical footwear could be. With a passion for technical design and a desire to create “something beautiful”, Saberi adopted creative techniques like object dying to Salmon’s high-performance sneakers. Each season, they’ve released a new sneaker and now, seven years in, they’ve launched their first full capsule including footwear, apparel, and a backpack. Titled 'Athletic Bouldering' the drop is a true fusion of fashion and function—it’s designed to look good and actually be climbed in, as demonstrated when the collection was first unveiled at Paris Fashion Week. Salomon built a full bouldering wall so people could ditch their designer garms, try on the collection and put it to the test.
We met Saberi at the 520M booth at ISPO, where the collection was displayed, to learn more about the partnership.
How would you describe yourself and your aesthetic?
I am an Iranian-German, and I grew up in a small conservative dorf in Bavaria skateboarding and climbing. This mixture of being so involved in hip-hop culture and punk rock shaped my style. There was a style called ‘crossover’, which was where punk rock and hip-hop came together. You had hip-hop aesthetics with guys wearing wide pants, and you had punk, and I was exactly in between. The wide pants looked stupid on me because I had very thin legs. And also I couldn't skate in them. It was a dilemma. Then, I started customizing garments and shaping them on my body. And that was when I, entrepreneur-wise, became, let's say, a primitive tailor.
What was your vision starting out as a designer?
My aim has always been to make exceptional and unique garments. So it's very important to me to put something new on the market, pattern-, fabric- or consumption-wise. I created a very specific style in 2006 – a clinch in between hip hop, punk rock, skateboarding and climbing.
How did you go from passionate outdoor enthusiast to designing a collection with Salomon?
Growing up in the Alps, I skateboarded and climbed from the age of 10. I was always a technology nerd who not just needed a lot of equipment, but technical equipment. I first knew Salomon from skiing in the Alps, before they started producing sneakers at around the end of the '90s.
Back then, I knew I wanted to make a sneaker, but it's very hard if you are a small, independent and experimental brand. So I made my own sneakers – they were good, nice, and looked cool but technology-wise, they were not what I wanted.
So, how did you link up with Salomon?
I had some options for collaborations at the time, but I didn’t want to come together with a brand that was doing a lot of collaborations. I spotted a friend of mine wearing a pair of Speedcross 3, the first trail running shoe I saw, and I was blown away by the rubber sole and its aggressive look. I thought, "Hey, you know what? I will ask them, because [at the time] they’d never done a collab."
I was lucky because an intern at Salomon knew my work, so the brand immediately answered my email, saying, "It would be an honor to work with you." They invited me directly to Annecy, and then everything just clicked.
You mentioned that you were drawn to Salomon because its shoes were technical. Why was that so important to you?
I think it's because of sports. My work was very alchemic and experimental: the pattern work, the material selection, and the finishing. I am talking about 2007—today it's very different.
When I was snowboarding, I had this same dilemma. I couldn’t find something that would describe my style, culture, and background well. It was really a personal problem I had and that's why I needed to create my garments around what I believed in.
Why of all the sports did you look to bouldering as the main inspiration for this collection, if you've come from skating and snowboarding and so on?
Because it was a true starting point, something I always wanted to do—that's why we created it under bouldering. And I wanted Boris Bidjan Saberi and Salomon to come together to create a whole silhouette, blending their technology know-how with my interpretation of a raincoat, pants, and a t-shirt.
Did you face any challenges in considering both the performance aspects of bouldering and your aesthetic vision?
No. Because I think it's very fluent and the team I'm working with, it's very easy. Salomon is such an authentic brand, and this is also what I admire about them. They have a modern build-up – it's not just a fashion module that is built into their company. They test their stuff, and they create niche technology garments.
What's next?
This collab is not just a one-off story. My aim is to create this collection and slowly build it up, so that there's continuity in it and it doesn't die in one season. We’ll grow the collection. So in fall/winter, there's a new cargo pant with a technical fabric to climb in it. A new long-sleeve and a zipper hoodie in a jersey fabric. We built our identities around it in terms of fabrics, production, detailing, and technology. I want to build garments that last over a decade.
