The term “less is more” has never been more inaccurate than when used to describe a good pair of trail shoes because, well, they’re all about the tech, right?
It’s all GORE-TEX this and protective membrane that when you chat to a real trail head about their choice of footwear, because when it comes to these performance runners, the more fancy innovation you can squeeze onto one single silhouette, the better.
But, what happens when a London and Reykjavík-based design studio (RANRA) takes one of the most popular silhouettes in the game and strips things back to basics?
A bloody good collaboration is what!
Teaming up with French trail aficionados Salomon, RANRA has taken the label’s epochal Cross Pro and had its way, reimagining it with an emphasis on natural material choices and artisanal plant-dyeing processes.
Natural rubber, cork, and leather is met with a water-repelling Ventile cotton canvas (about as techy as things get), as glues and adhesives are switched for alternative construction methods associated with more traditional shoemaking.
Things are kept natural when it comes to dying too, with RANRA using Icelandic Elftingar (Equisetum), harvested by hand at Urriðavatn, Iceland, to do so. The fabric was then hand-dyed in small batches to reveal unique variations in shade and texture – a distinct feature of the natural dye process.
The Salomon Cross Pro for RANRA – which will be available at in-store installations at The Broken Arm (Paris), SKP (Beijing) ,Très Bien (London), and Jogging (Marseille) – will officially drop on November 3, and will be on sale at Salomon too.
This collaboration is the latest in a string of link-ups from Salomon who recently teased its SS23 collaboration with COMME des GARÇONS in Paris last month, as well as the release of its latest and wander XT-6 collaboration, which is arguably one of its best yet.
