Andrew Rizzo Salomon isn’t nearly as reliant on collaborations as some of its competitors, but within the brand’s partnership rolodex, perhaps no name is more welcome on our newswire than L’Art de L’Automobile, the Paris-based luxury car dealership turned part-time streetwear brand responsible for some of the best Salomon collabs to date. Following a multi-genre running and lifestyle pack earlier this year comes another project that feels like a rather natural blend of themes and brands, drawing inspiration from automotive workshops with a Salomon XT-Quest 2 made for mechanics.
Already built to take a beating thanks to its hiking construction, the XT-Quest 2 gets a number of transformations here that, in Salomon’s words, are designed to make it look better with wear, a useful quality considering just one shift at the mechanic shop can make a shoe look aged to hell. The main body of the tongue swaps mesh for a more rugged canvas construction to better fend off oil spills and the like, while the colorway leans into lowkey workwear vibes in olive green, a solid choice given that mechanics, at least the ones I know, aren’t exactly looking to stand out with their fashion. The biggest change comes on the lateral side around the heel, where L’Art De L’Automobile adds its circular logo debossed into the leather (that’s a Volkswagen Golf GTI Mk1 at the center, if you were wondering). The tooling provides everything necessary for long days on one’s feet, including traction for slick shop floors, while multicolor green rope laces weave through metallic silver eyelet hooks.
The L’Art De L’Automobile x Salomon XT-Quest 2 releases October 28th through lartlart.com and November 2nd via Salomon and select retailers worldwide. See official campaign imagery below if you’ll be on the hunt for a pair.
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