Los Angeles’ luxury darling Maxfield decided it was time to do sneakers with Rick Owens, naturally. Fashion’s appetite for exclucivity and rarity clearly isn’t satisfied yet, so the boutique’s debut footwear comes in 24 pairs and… well, fish. Exotic, I guess.
It seems creativity wasn’t exactly evenly split here. A generous portion went into the material, so by the time the collaboration’s name was due, it must’ve run out. “Vintage Sneaks by Rick Owens for Maxfield”, you judge. Nothing really crazy happened with the design either, it’s that familiar Concordians silhouette doing its best Vans impression, in a far more interesting finish this time, I’ll give them that. The sneaker sits low, laces up, has a toe cap, and a small leather detail on the side, nothing you haven’t seen before. The shark-toothed bumper sole steps in to carry the Rick Owens signature, while a red insole stamped with both names makes sure to remind you exactly who you’re paying for. Who knows, if I were Owens, I’d probably gatekeep the good stuff too, volumes, sky-heights, metallics, studs, and the list goes on.
And that brings us to the fish, pirarucu leather, to be exact. Or arapaima. Or paiche. Enormous, freshwater, and frankly overqualified for sneakers. Its skin usually ends up on cowboy boots with scales that are thick, durable, and in lighter colors, borderline unsettling. So, of course, it’s black, it’s Rick Owens after all. Pirarucu is native to the Amazon, fished for food, its skin tragically wasted until fashion stepped in to save the day. Today, its capture is legally restricted to protected reserves, and the leather is reborn as a virtuous by-product, creating jobs, supporting Indigenous communities, and funding biodiversity preservation, all while conveniently ending up on a possible luxury sneaker. To be clear, this ethical framework comes from other Rick Owens products that used that leather. The sneaker itself arrives without much explanation, so fingers crossed. Same fish, same ethics, one would hope.
