Size? x Salomon XT-6 Expanse 'The Annecy Hotel'
Size? has had a pretty solid 2023 in terms of collabs. Luke leaked these a few months ago, along with the AM1 that recently released & I was pretty pumped to see these rollout.
Materials: the quality of this sneaker is pretty nice tbh. The mesh used is a big hole mesh for added breathability in a smoky pink/purple hue. Moving to the side panels & wrapping around the toe cap, there's TPU overlays in a cream-ish yellow tint, with olive inlays. Near the heel counter they added a debossed 'SALOMON' logo on the medial side and on the lateral side, 'XT6 EXPANSE'. Underneath panels, there's a brown mesh with a 🪟 pattern. Some of my favorite details are the more hidden features. The insoles have a picture of someone on a boat, rowing past the Annecy Hotel. Underneath the laces, there's a Salomon logo in pink, but if you look closer, they add similar details that you'll see on the insoles. The right shoe has a ⛰️ range with a bird 🕊️ & on the left, there's a person rowing a boat 🚣. It's a small feature, but I feel like it's a really cool little detail they added. The last thing I wanted to mention is the midsole color blocking, which gives the sneaker a nice pop of color with the light lavender & bright red-ish orange.
Comfort/Sizing: the xt6 expanse is very similar to the xt6 in terms of comfort. You have a firm, yet squishy feel, with a very locked in feel in the heel area. The Expanse model is more forgiving from a width perspective for those wide feet or high arches. I received these in a size 8 and they honestly fit perfectly for my foot & truthfully feel a lot better for my high arch than the regular XT6. I'd recommend going tts.
Overall Opinion: I feel like the team over at size? did a really nice job on these. The colors are unique & feel refreshing, making it feel like a well executed design. They paid homage to the Annecy Hotel & added little details that made it feel like a fun project. If you're able to pick up a pair, I'd grab one. They were released on 12/8 & do have some sizes leftover on their site.
Thank you again to the team over at @sizeofficial 🧡 much love