Balmain is known for its staunchly bold ready-to-wear collections and celebrity circle of devoted fans, but the luxury fashion house has been filling up fashion fans’ feeds this summer with news of its first major sneaker collection. Designed by creative director Olivier Rousteing, the range revisits the brand’s longstanding army influence with three silhouettes that take cues from military boots.

The collection, which previewed at an exclusive customization popup at Selfridges London, comprises the Troop, a leather sneaker boot with branded Balmain tape and adjustable lobster clasp; the Glove, a leather slip-on boot with embossed branding on the front; and a silhouette inspired by basketball kicks dubbed BBall.

Following the launch on the women’s earlier this month, we rounded up the best shots of the new kicks on Instagram and reached out to them for their thoughts on Balmain. Among those featured below are photographer Julian Boudet, rapper bbymutha, model okdeon, and creative director Rachel Ma.

Rachel Ma

Balmain is iconic and androgynous. I wanted to highlight the fact that Balmain sneakers can also be worn as everyday footwear if you can play it down with casual wear.

Rachel Ma

BBYMUTHA

Balmain has always been a brand that I admire, I love how much attention to detail goes into their pieces – attention to detail is a big part of how I write music.

BBYMUTHA

Deon

Balmain as a brand resonates with me given that the creative director, Olivier Rousteing, is a queer POC. That instills in me and other boys that look like me that anything is possible, given not only his amazing story but also the fact that he took over a luxury fashion house as a POC, which was/is unheard of.

Deon

Alexis Quintero

Balmain is bold and edgy. I love to wear a bold piece when getting dressed for a more edgy look, which is why the brand resonates with me.

Alexis Quintero

Benji Colson

Since it is such a classic and original brand it’s easy for me to style an outfit with Balmain pieces and it makes me feel confident in myself.

Benji Colson

Fae Sapienta

To me, Balmain is being hot and knowing it. You not trying to be seen but in the end, you are.

Fae Sapienta

Jorge Wright

I took this photo while on set for the latest Blood Orange video “Benzo” we were in this huge castle upstate NY, I was too scared to shoot inside so we wound up taking the photo in the parking lot. My lifestyle is very “I’m the center of attention” so considering these sneakers command so much attention, I think they fit us perfectly.

Jorge Wright

Julien Boudet

To me, Balmain is part of the French cultural patrimony and will always be among our top luxury fashion houses. It is a brand that's been around since 1945 and it is nice to see that they're still able to deliver great and modern pieces in 2019, 75 years later.

Julien Boudet

Romeo Pokomassse

Cop Balmain's new kicks online and in Balmain stores worldwide.