Balenciaga x Adidas Knife Spandex Over-the-Knee Boots | As Worn by Rihanna

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A Sportswear-Meets-Couture Collaboration, Head to Toe

This is the Balenciaga x Adidas Knife over-the-knee boot, part of the two houses' collaborative collection that debuted at Demna Gvasalia's Resort 2023 runway show at the New York Stock Exchange. Crafted from matte, figure-hugging spandex, the boot takes Balenciaga's signature "Knife" silhouette, a sharply pointed, second-skin style the brand has produced since the Gvasalia era began, and reworks it with Adidas's unmistakable three-stripe detailing running the full length of the leg, from base to top.

The tone-on-tone covered heel keeps the silhouette sleek and monochrome, letting the stripe placement and the boot's extreme, sock-like fit carry the entire visual impact. It's a design that fuses two very different design languages, high-fashion, fetish-inspired tailoring and instantly recognizable sportswear branding, into a single, cohesive piece.

The Balenciaga x Adidas collection became available in full in November 2022, following its debut on the runway earlier that year, and quickly became one of the most talked-about collaborations of the season. Rihanna was among the first major celebrities to step out in the collection, wearing the electric blue version of the Knife boots with the matching oversized Adidas-striped coat and a mini hourglass bag for a dinner outing in Santa Monica: a monochrome, head-to-toe styling moment that was widely covered across fashion and entertainment media. Notably, she skipped the more runway-exclusive elements of the original show styling, like the matching bodysuit and mask, opting for a wearable, real-life version of the look instead.

The Knife silhouette itself predates the Adidas collaboration, having first appeared in Balenciaga's Pre-Fall 2017 collection as part of Gvasalia's exploration of fetish-inspired, second-skin footwear. Its reappearance here, remixed with Adidas's branding, shows how enduring that original silhouette has been across multiple seasons and collaborations.

Styling Tips

Let the silhouette speak for itself, this boot is designed to be worn tight and uninterrupted, the way Rihanna styled it with a coordinating monochrome coat. For a slightly more casual take, pair with a simple mini dress or tailored shorts to let the leg-length stripe detailing take full visual priority.

Photography ©The Hollywood JR / BACKGRID

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