Name: International Gallery BEAMS x Paraboot THIERS EYELET
Colorway: TBC
SKU: TBC
MSRP: TBC
Release Date: May 22
Where to Buy: International Gallery BEAMS, BEAMS

Paraboot and International Gallery BEAMS are releasing the THIERS EYELET on May 22, a Japan-exclusive commission that takes the French brand’s most representative silhouette and rebuilds it from the sole up. The result is one of the more considered iterations of the THIERS in recent memory, and it is only available in Japan.

The construction starts underfoot and works up. The ROCAD SOLE is a Japan-domestic specification that does not appear on any international version of the THIERS, giving this commission a technical exclusivity that goes beyond colorway or material. It adds both a stable walking performance and a visual presence at the base of the shoe that International Gallery BEAMS has used as the foundation for everything that sits above it.

Above that sole, the VEL.ARDOISE suede upper does the heavy lifting aesthetically. Ardoise is French for slate, and the name earns itself: a short-pile suede in a concrete-toned grey that reads inorganic and urban without being cold. It is the kind of color that works against the THIERS’ inherently classic shape to produce something that sits more comfortably in a contemporary wardrobe than the standard leather iterations, while retaining the silhouette’s essential character. The two Paraboot firsts on this build are what separate it from a standard material commission. The eyelets have been redesigned from scratch, with their position and size adjusted through multiple rounds of refinement to balance visual impression with the functional performance of the shoe as a laced object. And the fat laces, which have never appeared on a Paraboot before, add volume and a contemporary register to the toe box that makes the whole build read slightly bigger and more present on the foot.

International Gallery BEAMS’ relationship with Paraboot runs deep enough that commissions like this feel less like collaborations and more like ongoing editorial conversations. The Japanese market has consistently pushed European heritage footwear into territory the originating brands have not always explored themselves, and the THIERS EYELET is a clean example of that dynamic: a shoe that respects the THIERS’ DNA completely while adding a Japan-only sole, a slate suede, and two construction details the brand has never tried before.