Founded in Tokyo in 2006, White Mountaineering is the brand of Japanese designer Yosuke Aizawa. Taking the great outdoors as inspiration, Aizawa and his team use functional, high-performance textiles and design details as a springboard for fashion-forward collections that blur the boundaries between urban and outdoors wear. The brand’s long-running partnership with adidas has led to some of the most striking and instantly recognizable footwear and apparel releases of the past decade, from the stripped-back hues of their very first collaboration on a pair of classic Stan Smith tennis shoes, to a hyper-technical take on the adidas Terrex range of trail running and hiking shoes that were released earlier this year.
White Mountaineering versions of the adidas LXCON proved one of the most eye-catching elements of the brand’s latest Paris Fashion Week runway show. Based on the 1994 iteration of the adidas Lexicon running shoe, the LXCON offers an entirely new interpretation of the qualities that made the original version so highly coveted. With a unique lacing system and knitted upper, the LXCON is definitively contemporary, yet could only ever have been built from the adidas archives. This is perhaps most apparent in the way that the shoe utilizes adiPRENE for premium comfort and shock impact: an adidas technology that has been worn like a badge of honor since the nineties and continues to enhance experiences today.
For White Mountaineering’s SS20 collection, the shoe is presented in two colorways: one that features the instantly recognizable WM blend of blacks, blues and whites; one that utilizes an outdoorsy palette of khaki greens, orange and brown. Each of these colors is paired with a host of subtle design evolutions, such as the bold branding and extended fabric panels that make up the iconic three stripes. The results embody a commitment to creating something indisputably new out of existing excellence – just as the first LXCON did with the OG Lexicon.
adidas x White Mountaineering LXCON will be available for purchase on January 25.
