Axel Arigato is back with another new sneaker silhouette.
Dubbed the “Squish,” the new unisex style features soft and rounded curves in its design with proportions that recall an exaggerated caricature.
Inspired by skate parks and modern sculpture, the U.K.-based brand noted that the Squish takes a “playful approach to form.” The sole is curved in every direction – concave, convex, never straight – with deliberately offset lines that create a sense of movement and irregularity. Proportions are intentionally blown out: the oversized toe rises dramatically up the foot, while an exaggerated woven label replaces the brand’s usual leather tab, reinforcing the silhouette’s relaxed and unserious character.
Launching as part of Axel Arigato’s spring/summer 2026’s “Green Space” collection, the new Squish sneaker combines premium nubuck and suede uppers with split-color thermoplastic rubber (TPR) outsoles.
Handcrafted in Portugal, each pair is finished with wool laces with an outsole that appears caught mid-pour, forming a shell that encases the upper. The unique toe design – inspired by mold-making and sculpture – gives the shoe its signature character, turning an everyday sneaker into a three-dimensional object.
Jens Werner, creative director of Axel Arigato, said in a statement that he wanted the Squish sneaker to “feel like a form in motion” – inspired by the playfulness of literally squishing the upper into the sole, almost like a baking mold.
Axel Arigato’s new Squish sneaker.
Courtesy of Axel Arigato
“The sound of things squishing together was present in my mind, and the sneaker became a visual and physical manifestation of that concept,” Werner noted.
The first release arrives in five colorways for both men and women: light beige, black, lilac, tan, and bright yellow. A men’s-only tonal pack follows, featuring light taupe and black/off-black.
The new Axel Arigato Squish, which retails for $365, is now available online and in stores.
This isn’t the first appearance of the Squish. Earlier this month, the style was part of a new collaboration between Axel Arigato and Brooklyn-based artist Alvin Armstrong.
Axel Arigato’s new Squish sneaker.
Courtesy of Axel Arigato
Armstrong said in an interview with FN earlier this month that the style was a bit chunkier at a time when a lot of the footwear silhouettes on the market were more minimal, with flat soles.
“The Squish stands out aesthetically to me. Once we decided to collaborate on a shoe, I was struggling to find a specific silhouette in the brand’s archive that felt right for me and for this collaboration. At that point, Werner started showing me some of the future silhouettes that were coming down the line, and when he showed me the Squish, I liked the shape right away,” he added.
Werner added the idea of the Squish came from wanting to encase the leather upper in a rubber outsole, as if the two forms had been literally squished together.
“It’s not a classic Axel Arigato silhouette, but more of a distorted evolution of what we’ve done before,” the creative director said.
