Salomon has seemingly done the impossible—they’ve become cool. Like, selling in exclusive, capital F fashion retailers like SSENSE and Totokaelo to hypebeast kids, type of cool. The French-founded (though owned by Adidas since 1997) brand has long been pushing the envelope of performance and design with their elevated S/Lab line, but within the past year or so their monochrome S/Lab trail runners have found a new popularity away from the mountains and among the streets of cities like Tokyo, NYC, and Los Angeles.
The latest step in this evolution comes by way of this new collaboration with performance eyewear brand District Vision—fellow New Yorkers and one of our favorite brands in the ever-blending urban/outdoor space—in the form of the unisex District Vision x Salomon Mountain Racer.
Created after multiple years of development as a top-of-the-line trail runner meant for serious use, the Mountain Racer features an outsole constructed of proprietary Salomon Contragrip rubber for advanced traction in wet conditions, a shock absorbing molded and injection EVA combination middles for increased stability, and a specially formulated woven upper that’s water resistant, lightweight, and extremely durable. A kevlar toe cap increases protection from roots and rocks while running and a welded TPU coating cradles the forefoot for a more snug fit.
The District Vision x Salomon Mountain Runner relies on conventional laces, whereas many of the more elaborate S/Lab designs opt for a zippered bootie design. This grounds the otherwise elaborate design, reminding the user it is in fact equally at home as a performance trail runner pushing limits of crunching dirt, and as a daily driver for around town too.
In other words, the Salomon x District Vision racer is one forward thinking shoe designed for the most rugged trails, yet handsome enough for wear in most any environment.
