Salomon partners with Japanese retailer Ray BEAMS for a playful new colorway of the XT-Whisper sneaker. The "Blueberry Cheesecake" edition launches May 14, priced at ¥23,100 JPY exclusively through BEAMS.
The shoe features a creamy off-white mesh upper paired with deep purple and bright blue synthetic overlays and structural cage details. Glossy finishes add dimension to the dessert-inspired palette. The collaboration taps into the growing appetite for food-themed colorways that balance whimsy with wearability. Ray BEAMS, known for elevating basics through thoughtful color curation and Japanese retail sensibility, brings that expertise to Salomon's performance-heritage silhouette.
This marks a reunion between the two parties, signaling Salomon's deliberate strategy of collaborating with regional retail partners who command cultural influence. The XT-Whisper has become central to the brand's lifestyle positioning, drawing consumers who value function over hype-driven drops. By anchoring the shoe in Japan through an exclusive BEAMS release, Salomon strengthens its foothold in a market where collaborative storytelling drives sneaker culture.
The "Blueberry Cheesecake" aesthetic reflects broader trends in footwear design. Bold pastry-inspired palettes have appeared across Nike, Asics, and New Balance collections, trading moody earth tones for playful, Instagram-friendly combinations. Ray BEAMS executes this approach with restraint, avoiding saccharine excess while maintaining strong visual identity. The high-contrast overlays and glossy accents prevent the design from reading as purely novelty.
For Salomon, this collaboration reinforces its transformation from pure trail brand into a lifestyle player. The XT-Whisper competes directly with