If anyone ever considered Salomon's sneakers dadcore, let them stand corrected. Salomon's XT PU.RE Advanced shoe is too dark, too tough.

With an almost brutalist design, the XT PU.RE Advanced almost looks like a Salomon mutation in black, though it cleans up in white. Wearing a lightly pre-distressed upper with rubber caging and a chunky sole unit, Salomon's XT PU.RE epitomizes the forward-thinking attitude of the Advanced line.

In fact, it's so advanced that it looks like it's from the past.

Salomon's XT PU.RE Advanced shoe has shades of the Salomon collabs cooked up by Boris Bidjan Saberi's 11 sub-label, in all their hand-dyed glory. That's not a diss, of course: this is a great looking shoe.

Of course, the XT PU.RE Advanced sneaker has all of the technological and comfortable features that you expect from Salomon's shoes, like Contragrip soles. It does borrow cues from the XT sneaker line, home of Salomon's popular XT-6 shoe.

But with the worn-looking sole and grungy streamlined upper, it has a whole different vibe than the comparatively clean Salomon kicks that came before.

It's a little aggressive, even, which is certainly not a bad thing. Change is good, especially when Salomon is known for cranking out sneakers both stylish and sleek.

One thing about it? It’s as far from a dad sneaker as Salomon might ever get. Or at least it looks like a dad trying on a leather jacket for the first time, though with a bit more of a menacing edge. These are as scary as Salomon shoes get. 

If its ACS sneakers are as close to mallwalkers as Salomon gets — and that's still pretty far, considering how slick even those bad boys are — then the XT PU.RE Advanced is on the entire other side of the shoe spectrum.

Salomon's XT PU.RE Advanced sneakers retail for $250 and that's clearly a bargain — the black colorway is already sold out at some stores though other Salomon stockists still have a decent size run available.

The French sportswear brand recently shelled out beaucoup bucks for a 2024 Super Bowl ad, and between that sort of flex and new sneaker silhouettes like the XT PU.RE Advanced, it’s very clear that Salomon is not messing around.