Carpet Company x Salomon XT-Whisper Collab Deserves a Full Release
When Baltimore's Carpet Company partnered with Salomon on the XT-Whisper, the result was a rare collision of skate-driven irreverence and Alpine technical design. An unreleased colorway from the collaboration suggests there's still more potential left to explore.
By Marcus Chen
Carpet Company has built its reputation on defying conventional sneaker logic—pairing unlikely silhouettes with uncompromising creative direction that feels more art project than commercial exercise. So when the brand announced a collaboration with Salomon, a house built on decades of mountaineering credibility and trail engineering, the contrast seemed almost too pointed to ignore.
The resulting XT-Whisper Void in the "Habibi Express" colorway landed exactly where it should have: at the intersection of those two worlds. Co-founders Ayman and Osama Abdeldayem applied their signature DIY sensibility to Salomon's rugged silhouette, preserving the shoe's functional DNA while introducing visual language distinctly rooted in contemporary skate culture. The execution avoided the trap of mere aesthetics grafted onto heritage—instead, the collaboration felt genuinely considered.
The Unreleased Potential
What makes this story worth revisiting is the emergence of additional unreleased colorway concepts that emerged during the collaboration's development cycle. These designs, previewed through a series of conceptual posts on social media, suggest the creative partnership had more depth than what made it to retail. The experimental direction demonstrated across these alternate versions indicates both brands were willing to push further into thematic territory.
A full commercial rollout of these secondary colorways would signal genuine commitment to the collaboration beyond the initial release window. Given Carpet Company's track record of working selectively and Salomon's increasing openness to culture-forward partnerships, the prospect of these pieces hitting shelves—even in limited quantities—feels less like wishful thinking and more like inevitable.
The XT-Whisper itself remains an underutilized silhouette in collaborative space, which only strengthens the case. Its geometric lines and technical construction offer collaborators legitimate design canvas rather than just another blank canvas for graphic application.
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Release Info
Current Status: Unreleased colorways (initial "Habibi Express" colorway previously available)
Retail Price: TBA
Retailers: Expected at Salomon and select specialty retailers upon release
Availability: No official release date announced
