the story of the icon ‘bakala’ that Rihanna wore in the Super Bowl | The USA Print

The accumulation of exclusives that brought together Rihanna’s performance during the break of the last Super Bowl will be recorded for posterity. To the expected repertoire that accompanied her first show after six years without going on stage, was added the bombshell of an incipient tummy that revealed the expectation of her second child with rapper A $ Ap Rocky. In parallel, social networks collapsed to confirm each item of clothing that the Barbadian singer wore on the mobile catwalk; of Loewe’s red jumpsuit, which revealed a bodysuit in vinyl also devised by its creative director Jonathan Anderson, in the Alaïa coat-quilt made to measure by Pieter Mulier (and which many have seen as a tribute to his friend, the late fashion editor André León Talley), or the jewels vintage from the antique dealer Ariel Saldian.

PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES Photo: GETTY IMAGES

But after this total look in catwalk red, all the media attention was monopolized by her feet. Not an expected Puma design due to her close relationship with her Fenty brand (as the King Avanti Premium model with which it has been seen lately the author of Umbrella) nor the classic Air Jordan 1 that he usually wears daily. was the design Cross Low from the Maison Margiela MM6 x Salomon collaboration those chosen for the occasion. This launch last fall consolidated the relationship between the two references in urban fashion, which began for the spring summer 2023 show of the second line of Maison Margiela with a prototype of an elastic thigh-high boot. Their alliance shows a perfect symbiosis between the Belgian brand’s conceptual design and a consumer product, making true that often utopian maxim that avant-garde clothing can be suitable for everyday use.

The Maison Margiela MM6 x Salomon Cross Low, the exact sneaker model Rihanna wore during the Super Bowl halftime break. PHOTO: COURTESY OF SALOMON Photo: COURTESY OF SALOMON

This shoe, in particular, leaves the passion for sports discipline latent trail running from its creator Heikki Salonen, creative director of MM6, inspired by the mountain heritage that Solomon has sustained since its inception. Low-cut and with a mesh upper set on a generous rubber sole, it reinterprets Salomon’s Speedlace lacing system but without laces. The multicolored model sold out within hours of its October debut, but both the salmon and red combination worn by RiRi and the black and white combination remain available through online sales platforms such as Yoox for 225 euros. The collection is completed with a boot design and laces in black and red baptized as Cross High in reference to his height.

Other designs in the collection. PHOTO: COURTESY OF SALOMON Photo: Courtesy of Salomon.

This collaboration is not Salomon’s first experience in the world of fashion. The Japanese designer Rei Kawakubo was a pioneer in seeing the potential that the historic footwear brand could acquire on a catwalk. Recent years have seen several common designs for his firm Comme de Garçons, such as a minimalist black and white version of the XA-Alpine modelas agile to climb a mountain as to kick the Fashion Weeks; a resounding massive heritage platforms twomilera or the reformulation of the classic RX Slide 3.0 shoe in Mary Janes for her autumn 2021 collection.

Various Comme de Garçons x Salomon designs.

Marine Serre with her crescent moon on the frontthe German fashion designer Boris Bidjan Saberi, Eli Russell Linnetz (known for his collaboration with Kim Jones for Dior) or the brand of skateboarding Palace, are other referents of current fashion that have been seduced by this zap mountain in repeated collaborations.

From a small workshop to the world’s largest ski equipment manufacturer

if the reader millennial If he looked back, he would surely place his characteristic trekking sole between the late 90s and early 2000s, as part of the uniform hard techno homeland, that is, of the bakalas. “They were a symbol of aesthetics makinera”, remembers with nostalgia Pablo, 43 years old, graphic designer. “Along with the Puma Sparco, the Salomón Adventure model multiplied in the tail of the Radical and the Fabrik”.

With that flashback In mind, which most of us witnessed during our adolescence, the history of this family company dates back a long time. It was after the end of World War II that George Salomon decided to disobey his father’s wish to become a teacher in order to join his father’s company. The young man turned his passion for snow sports into a small wood saw blade workshop in Annecy, a small town in the French Alps, designing in 1947 the first patent for beveled-edge skis that the Francois Salomon et Fils company would end up producing. in chain.

George Salomon and the brand’s first ski boot, the SX90 model. PHOTO: COURTESY OF SALOMON

A decade later, Salomon devised another great invention for mountain sports, the first safety binding that would replace the traditional leather straps. In the 1960s, the company already dominated the market as the number one manufacturer of bindings, and the success of its automatic release heel cup that it presented at the 1966 Alpine Ski World Championships would confirm this.

Despite its good reception, it would not be until 1979 when Salomon would launch its first ski boots on the market, the SX90 model with rear entry and heel retention. For its design, they had the industrial creator Roger Tallon, known for his work for large rail transport projects such as the TGV or the Eurostar. Its orange casing based on plastic molding and the multi-injection of technical components achieved overwhelming success, first in France and Sweden, and later throughout the world. In just three years after its launch, Salomón became the world benchmark for this type of equipment.

A factory of urban landmarks for our feet

His leap into the world of hiking would come in 1992 with the creation of the first Adventure boot., than the newspaper New York Times He described it as quite an event as it allowed “walking into the future with lighter boots”. On a visual level, its compact design with a traction sole, a zippered gaiter to prevent the laces from getting dirty and a solid fastening system that prevented ankle sprains on uneven terrain, marked a functional and aesthetic milestone in the history of footwear. outdoors, welcomed with the same enthusiasm both at height and in theaters clubbing.

The first design of the Adventure hiking boots. PHOTO: COURTESY OF SALOMON

After Adidas acquired the firm in 1997 and resold it to the Finnish sports equipment company AMER Sports eight years later, technical launches alternated for sports such as snowboarding, skiing, freestyle or inline skating with other more commercial models such as speed cross –revered years later by Kanye West and the designer Matthew Williams– or the famous XA Pro. The latter of greater lightness and speed, precursors of the outdoor race discipline known as trail running, they penetrated fully into urban terrain, and prepared the ground for another hit from the French brand: the XT-6.

The Salomon takes over the ‘streetstyle’. PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES

Created in 2012 as a high-performance shoe to withstand marathons of up to 100 miles through the mountains, the XT-6 went from being a specific shoe for this sport to an icon in the urban terrain with its redesign in 2016 under the label LAB, with new color combinations such as acid tones, fiery reds, salmon or lilac. One of its most famous versions (and revered by the world of fashion), however, was collaboration with the temple of modernity Dover Street Market with a much more minimalist design, which gets rid of the bold use of color that characterizes this shoe.

The XT-6 model ‘understated’ by Dover Street Market.

In 2022, on the occasion of its 75th anniversary, Salomon reimagined its logo and visual image under the motto tomorrow is yours –“El mañana es tus”– to attract a new and younger audience that shared his love of outdoor aesthetics. “We are proud of the company’s history of creating the future of sports, imagining and shaping high-performance sports products (…). We believe this new direction for the brand appeals to an ever-growing audience of young outdoor enthusiasts who believe they can do the same,” said Franco Fogliato, Salomon President and CEO at the launch. With the aim of not only consolidating its leadership in winter and mountain sports but also positioning itself as a new benchmark for footwear for streetwear and the running asphalt, the brand plans to increase its presence in Europe, North America and China in the coming years. One more chapter in that youthful dream that George Salomon outlined in front of The Alps covered in white.

Designer Eli Russell Linnetz’s glam take on Salomon ski gear.