MM6 Maison Margiela and Salomon turn the XT-4 into a mule

MM6 Maison Margiela and Salomon have stripped the heel from the XT-4 and left the rest of the trail code stubbornly intact. The result is an open-heeled mule that reads less like a compromise than a sharpened argument: functionality can survive as aesthetic evidence, even when the shoe no longer behaves like a shoe in the usual sense.

The XT-4 Mule arrives in Vanilla Ice and Black, and the palette is deliberately stark enough to let the structure do the talking. Underneath the new slip-on profile, the technical markers remain visible. Salomon keeps the Chassis skeleton, EnergyCell cushioning and Mud Contagrip outsole in play, which is exactly why the design lands with more conviction than a novelty clog. It still looks built for movement, even as the exposed heel makes it feel like trail gear translated for city streets and indoor dressing rooms rather than alpine paths.

The collaboration is part of the brands’ Spring-Summer 2026 capsule, a wider project that Salomon says explores hybridization and the blending of worlds at the intersection of performance and fashion. MM6 traces that shared ethos of transitional design back to Maison Margiela’s Autumn/Winter 2022 show, and that lineage is visible here in the shoe’s refusal to choose between utility and provocation. MM6 and Salomon have also built out the capsule with a new XT sneaker and 90s-inspired technical apparel, extending the partnership beyond footwear into a complete modular wardrobe for everyday movement.

Pricing underscores the tension between technical object and fashion artifact. Hypebeast lists the XT-4 Mule at €360, about $417, under style codes SH1WS0017 HB425 and SH1WS0017 HB424. Salomon’s U.S. launch calendar places the same MM6 Maison Margiela XT-4 Mule at $455, a difference that speaks to how regional pricing has become part of the modern sneaker equation. END. describes the shoe as a practical slip-on with a full-length Agile Chassis™ skeleton and a roomier metatarsal fit, details that make the mule sound less like a meme and more like a serious entry in the ongoing collapse of trail gear and fashion footwear.

Released on June 18 and available online and in select stores, the XT-4 Mule captures the current mood of the category: less pure utility than a polished afterimage of it. If gorpcore is tiring, MM6 and Salomon suggest the next phase is not a retreat from performance, but a world where performance survives mainly as style language.