The collaborators are also dropping a full-on climbing shoe in their capsule.

Brain Dead and Adidas love to go hyper-specific in the functions of their shoe collaborations. The steady partners have released bowling shoes on several occasions and have made sure to warn that the soles are risky to wear away from an alley. And for their latest act, they’re making two climbing shoes with varying degrees of utility off of a rock face.

The Brain Dead x Adidas Five Ten NIAD and Guide Tennie offer up a performance climbing shoe and a more versatile approach shoe, respectively. Both silhouettes are hit with a shaggy suede on their uppers to stand out from their grippy rubber toes. That material is rendered in a plum color on the Guide Tennie, which is complimented by purple and orange pull loops on the tongue and heel, as well as a marine blue lining and laces. A Brain Dead hangtag is then affixed to the eye stay, while its head logo is stitched onto the tongue.

Marine blue becomes the dominant color on the NIAD, and it too gets pull tabs in orange and purple along with a Brain Dead hangtag in a comparable position.

Coming into fruition this year, the approach shoe trend involves shoes that have been typically designed for both light outdoor climbing and the hike that leads up to it (hence “approach”). The phenomenon is just the latest turn in gorpcore’s continued reign in footwear, offering durability and grip for inclement city weather and often with more subdued aesthetics.

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