Melissa x Diesel Collab

.new collab
MELISSA x DIESEL
*Rubber Gods and Other Delusions of Elegance

written AMANDA MORTENSON

Rubber melts memory faster than heat, and in the Melissa-Diesel union, the memory gets rewritten in translucent layers and factory-spun fantasies, where every sole becomes an altar and every arch a design thesis.

The launch breathes with that quiet insistence that only comes from brands long familiar with the performance of excess, the kind of intimacy that happens when a shoe imagines itself both object and spectacle, more monolith than accessory.

The Quantum Thong arrives soft and symmetrical, carrying a shape that recalls diagrams from a manual no one asked to read but everyone wants to own. Pink slides in like bubblegum after midnight, black stands like a nightclub wall you lean against out of rhythm, transparent red and blue offer the promise of temperature shifts that begin at the ankle. Platforms follow, geometric volumes with the attitude of architecture during a full moon and sandals lifted like invitations or warnings.

MELISSA x DIESEL
Campaign

MELISSA x DIESEL
Campaign

Sneaker X completes the trinity with the assurance of something bred inside a sealed studio with fluorescent silence and biometric locks, where gender loses its meaning and all that remains is a shell for movement, polished and aerodynamic. Every size appears, every color holds its own name, and nothing left to adjust. The Diesel D expands across each silhouette like a glyph from an urban folklore, a kind of sigil for the new believers of street couture and synthetic spirituality. The D doesn’t explain itself, it rather rotates, stretches, embeds, and accepts the surface as gospel and the foot as oracle.

Shoppers gather through portals coded to feel clean and frictionless, digital altars where Melissa and Diesel light scented fires made of pixelated gradients and mock-sincerity. Stores function as museums that forgot to lock the vitrines. Feet enter without asking and photography follows with no alarms.

MELISSA x DIESEL
Campaign

The collaboration folds time and flattens the idea of occasion. Morning, evening, somewhere between the club and the convenience store—each moment welcomes a shoe that behaves like sculpture and speaks in capital letters. Melissa carries its decades like an heirloom dipped in gloss, marching through past alliances with architects and provocateurs, never missing a step even when the runway disappears. Diesel, still fluent in the dialect of denim rebellion and factory-born pride, supplies the posture and the push, a language understood without translation.

The launch floats in like it missed the memo but still gets photographed from every angle. Color-coded, algorithm-approved, properly translucent in places where mystery performs best. The calendar says July 15th, the internet stretches and the shelves absorb it. Just plastic shaped like an idea someone once sketched on a napkin at a very loud dinner. Melissa leans in, Diesel flexes. So while the shoes wait, the feet arrive.

MELISSA x DIESEL
Campaign

MELISSA x DIESEL
Campaign

Christian Louboutin *PFW

Pin Me Down, I’m Louboutin
*Everyone at Hôtel de Crillon Was Looking at Shoes, Obviously

written AMANDA MORTENSON
documented BELLA SPANTZEL

They set up shop at Hôtel de Crillon. Three salons. Carpeted floors. High ceilings. Everything smelling faintly of inherited wealth and new soles. Louboutin called it Sartorial. No one asked what that meant. Everyone nodded.

First room: Batailles. Men hunched over shoes like the Enlightenment depended on it. One was patina-ing. Another was glazing. Someone whispered something about “le glaçage” and nodded like they were at a wine tasting. In a corner: butterflies. Not metaphorical. Real ones, stitched from organza and rhinestones and beads and sequins and probably quiet guilt. Maison Lesage. 55 hours per shoe. Do the math. No one blinked.

Second room: Salon des Aigles, where four men—beautiful in that way people are when they look like they’ve never waited in line for anything—were performing something loosely resembling a day in the life of someone too stylish to explain their job. They moved just enough to make it clear they were alive, but not enough to suggest they had anywhere to be. On their feet: Lord Chamb boots with a vaguely horsey superiority, the O Louvre loafers wrapped in moiré gros-grain like they just stepped out of an inheritance, and the Circus Booty Perla, which looked like a party trick from 1973 involving 10,000 rhinestones, some pearls, suede, and a memory of a harlequin no one really invited but everyone admired. Around them: glass vitrines displaying dissected shoes like scientific curiosities—Farfaman and Farfarock cracked open in slices, frozen mid-explanation. Someone near the back said “craftsmanship” under their breath like it was a secret. Someone else took a picture, shook their head slightly, and walked into the next room without looking up.

Third room: Salon Marie Antoinette, where the vibe shifted from performative to ceremonial. A green billiard table, because of course, held the entire Chambeliss line arranged like disciplined heirs waiting for the will to be read. Derby, Moc, Monk, Monk Boot, and one that looked like it simply couldn’t decide. The shoes didn’t speak, but they absolutely judged. All were adorned with the Chambelink, a sharp little metal pin stretched across the upper like a smirk—some minimal, some dripping in rhinestones, 200 if anyone’s counting, but no one was.

Each shoe had a matching shirt collar placed beside it, as if the collar had decided to go solo and the shoe was still getting over it. Someone whispered something about tailoring. Someone else responded with “elegance,” but their voice gave out halfway through, probably because the shoes were too close and listening.

There was a general atmosphere of reverence mixed with mild confusion, the kind where everyone agrees something is brilliant without needing to understand why. The shoes gleamed under the light like they had somewhere better to be, the rooms carried themselves like sets from a film where no one makes eye contact, and outside, Paris didn’t notice because Paris was busy being Paris. Christian Louboutin didn’t explain. There were no speeches, no signs, no marketing slogans. Just rooms filled with shoes that fully expected to be looked at.

all visuals produced for LE MILE .Digital
Bella Spanzel / www.bellaspantzel.com

HOKA New Speed Loafer 2025

HOKA Speed Loafer
*A Study in Motion

written MONICA DE LUNA

A design distilled to its purest form, cut to the rhythm of those who move with intention.

HOKA shifts the landscape once again. The Speed Loafer emerges as a sharp statement in movement, fusing a forward-thinking silhouette with the unmistakable energy of the brand’s signature engineering.

HOKA
Speak Loafer

Footwear, in its truest essence, is architecture in motion. The Speed Loafer manifests this ideology through sculpted contours and an unwavering focus on function. Precision-stacked layers of EVA foam deliver a sensation that pulses between structure and fluidity. The silhouette, clean yet assertive, lands with the clarity of a blueprint drawn for kinetic expression.

The upper—a seamless convergence of form and breathability—eliminates excess. A single stroke of engineered materials, composed to contour. Slip-in ease translates to uninterrupted motion, making the transition between states effortless.

HOKA’s DNA hums beneath the surface. The Speed Loafer carves out space for movement, where stability does not compromise agility. The midsole, sculpted for response, amplifies each step with a balance that speaks to both precision and instinct. Every element, from the minimalistic structure to the considered weight distribution, channels a philosophy of forward propulsion.

This release reframes versatility through a sharper lens. Urban rhythm or off-grid escapism, the Speed Loafer adapts to the moment without hesitation. A visual language that aligns with an audience attuned to dynamic design, it defies expectations without the need for embellishment.

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From Form to Function with On *The Body Is Art Training Campaign

HOKA’s latest drop extends an invitation—not just to wear, but to move. The Speed Loafer is now available through selected retailers and online, existing at the intersection of motion and intent.

step inside at hoka.com

Paul Andrew Spring 2025

PAUL ANDREW
*Fusing Fashion with Radical Creativity

written SARAH ARENDTS

Titled without fanfare but pulsing with intent, the new Paul Andrew Spring 2025 campaign—a collaboration with an eclectic cohort of contemporary artists—unfolds as a declaration. The campaign lands like a manifesto for the avant-garde, a space where creativity reshapes the narrative of luxury fashion.

This is a campaign of tension and raw edges. Andrew’s collaborators embody modern disruption: Erica Ohmi’s glitch-ridden 3D textures flow into Rei Nadal’s surreal narratives. Sungi Mlengeya’s stark black-and-white portraits pull you into a quiet intensity that feels meditative. Jet Swan’s lens captures moments that resonate—charged and electric.

(c) Paul Andrew

(c) Paul Andrew

The energy is tangible. The collection speaks through footwear that transcends utility to become sculptural artifacts. Paul Andrew’s design carries an understated boldness. Translucent materials fold into shapes that feel as ephemeral as memory, while sharp cuts command attention with visceral impact. These pieces resonate without forcing clarity, allowing the viewer to linger in their intricacies.

Visual artist Jorden Steward’s work bursts with hyper-saturated tableaus of color, while Natasha Stagg’s fragmented storytelling adds depth to the mood. The campaign unfolds as a layered experience between physicality and abstraction.

Sound designer Frederic Sanchez creates sonic compositions that distort the visual narrative, scraping and humming like fractured memories. Luna Conte’s choreographed motion disrupts stillness, infusing movement with defiance.

Andrew’s campaign functions as an orbit of interconnected ideas and moments. The collaboration, with its fractured yet cohesive aesthetic, invites the audience to immerse in its density and discover its core.

Paul Andrew’s Spring 2025 campaign presents an unfiltered vision. The artists, visuals, and sound converge in a charged interplay that transcends interpretation. It is an experience that lingers, shifting something within—even if its shape remains elusive.

(c) Paul Andrew

(c) Paul Andrew

(c) Paul Andrew

campaign credits

creative director PAUL ANDREW

artists ERICA OHMI, JORDEN STEWARD, SIENNA MURDOCH, NATASHA STAGG, SUNGI MLENGEYA, JET SWAN, FREDERIC SANCHEZ, JASA MULLER, JACK LOVATT, @_UNFOLLOWING, REI NADAL, LUNA CONTE