MM6 Maison Margiela and Salomon are typically practitioners of the fantastical when it comes to their footwear collaborations. Past efforts have included colorful, shrouded takes on the Cross — made iconic by Rihanna, who wore an all-red pair for her Super Bowl LVII halftime show — and backless XT-4 mules, but for their latest effort, the duo are putting simplicity at the forefront by applying elegant black-and-white and all-black color schemes to the X-ALP, a technical approach-inspired model from the Salomon archives.
Unlike the aforementioned models, the MM6 Maison Margiela x Salomon X-ALP fully retains its original silhouette and shape, leaning on key design features like a thick rubber toe guard, swooping midfoot overlay and Contagrip mud tread. The only real alterations can be seen on the tongue and insole, both of which feature MM6 Maison Margiela’s familiar numerical graphic. The black-and-white pair offers a yin-and-yang style look with a white mesh upper, light tan suede forefoot and the signature overlay in black with white Salomon branding. Two-tone midsoles and flecked laces round off the look. On the other end, the all-black pair is totally tonal, save for the white branded hits on its insole. This isn’t the first subtle collaboration the two have produced, as they also snuck in ice-blue, heather grey and black ACS Pro Advanced collabs in 2023, but it is easily the most minimal.
There’s currently no word on a release date for the MM6 Maison Margiela x Salomon X-ALP collection, but it’s likely to release later this year alongside the duo’s XT-4 Mules.