Rier casually met Salomon on the runways earlier this year, with the Paris label reimagining Salomon’s most rugged trail running boot, the XA Jungle, as a surprisingly stylish stepper.
Rier and Salomon know a thing or two about the outdoors and how to look good while embracing it. However, what drew Rier founder Andreas Steiner to work with the French sports label was their similar “approaches to research and development.”
“I was particularly convinced once I had the opportunity to learn and see the engineering process behind every product in Annecy France,” Steiner tells Highsnobiety.
As fascinated with their operations, Steiner was even more intrigued by Salomon’s XA Jungle boot, a tactical boot born to blaze the trails and backed up with a superb outdoor-ready construction. Steiner specifically calls attention to the Salomon boot’s “long-lasting quality” and “technicality.”
“The main idea was to bring a super high-performance tactical boot into a more fashion-conscious distribution. We chose to offer it in a monolithic castle rock grey, a direct nod to the shades of the Dolomites as well as to the asphalt city-scape,” Steiner says.
“Each section of the boot has been reinforced, from stitching to mesh, laces, and outsole. With strategically located holes for drainage and minimal padding, it retains minimum moisture and dries quickly. The 3D Advanced Chassis guides the foot on rough terrain, offering great protection and stability, as well as rubber details to rope climb and slide comfortably.”
It may not be officially fall just yet, but the spirit of the season is undoubtedly in the air already. What I’m trying to say here is…it’s time for Rier’s fashionable Salomon Jungle boots.
After a prelaunch at Broken Arm on September 6, the Rier x Salomon XA Jungle boots will release at Salomon and the Highsnobiety Shop on September 26.
I know we shouldn’t be thinking about Rier and Salomon’s next collaboration when their Jungle boot is barely out, but this writer couldn’t resist — and Steiner didn’t hold back on Rier and Salomon’s next moves together.
“We will launch a new hiking shoe for SS25 next February: the XA MID GTX, an ultra-light gore-tex tactical mid-boot,” Steiner says.
“I was able to test it this summer in the Alps, and it offers impressive stability for all types of treks and hikes, as well as great protection for the foot and ankle. It is a highly technical shoe and one of the lightest in the world of its kind.”