If you cast your mind back to last summer, the observant among you will remember that Belstaff and Merrell 1TRL quietly dropped a shoe that turned out to be anything but quiet. Their Ontario Speed collab arrived, sold out, and left many of us on our arses, refreshing empty web pages.
If you’re still not over it, chin up. We’ve not just written an article to rub your face in it, we’ve actually got some very good news. The two are back, and this time they’ve put their spin on arguably the most iconic Merrell silhouette of all: the MOAB.
There’s good reason the MOAB is so iconic. It’s chunky, unapologetic, and proudly built for stomping around the great outdoors. It’s a shoe that appeals to everyone. You’re just as likely to find 23-year-old art students from Hackney in the MOAB Lovers Facebook group as you are 57-year-old Appalachian Trail hikers. It’s a shoe that can get you through just about anything, and looks good doing it.
But in the hands of Belstaff, the MOAB has become a bit more serious. A bit more mature, and a touch more refined. Gone are the bright colour pops and loud laces of typical trail shoes – this time it’s about subtle superiority. Two monochrome colour palettes come upon a canvas of suede and full-grain leather. It’s premium without being precious, and also one of those collaborations where we can’t decide which colourway is best.
The mentioned typical MOAB ruggedness is partly thanks to its rugged Vibram TC5+ sole, custom-developed for Merrell’s 1TRL line, purposefully designed to cling to wet rock and grimy pavements.
The shoes looks fantastic, but for us, the best thing about the collab is how natural it feels. Both brands aren’t strangers to the outdoors, though they interpret it slightly differently. One’s been kitting out bikers and explorers long before the advent of GORE-TEX, and the other’s been perfecting trail footwear for as long as most of us have had ankles. It’s classic British grit balanced with American trail know-how.
We’re big into these. They’re the kind of shoe that is equally comfy on a gravel path as it is in a pretentious art gallery cafe that sells more matcha lattes than actual coffee. It’s a true all-rounder, one we reckon you’d struggle to shift from your feet.
The collaboration MOAB is available to purchase now from Belstaff