Cults and Rituals Inspire ROMBAUT's Eerie "ARKANA" Campaign

The Belgian multidisciplinary creative Mats Rombaut is the definition of avant-garde, forever developing new ideas that continue his eponymous label ROMBAUT's ethos of futuristic, forward-thinking vegan accessories. Now, ROMBAUT explores this in its new campaign, "ARKANA," which blends the brand's latest footwear with iconography that evokes rituals and cults of old and new.Per the brand, "It features a blend of our brand's heritage and an exciting glimpse into our future. As we're embarking on a new chapter, this campaign sets the stage for what's to come." With this in mind, we find an increasing focus on minimal designs -- previous work has been dramatically bold, ranging from Royal Mail-themed boots to jelly sandals made in collaboration with Melissa.Instead, the "ARKANA" campaign spotlights the Boccaccio II Rain in white, a boot that centers around a Wellington shaft that's devoid of too many details, rather putting the focus on an almost eerie silhouette of few, but vital, details. The same sort of feeling is evoked with the classic white Boccaccio II boot, or the normcore attitudes that ooze from ROMBAUT's Neo or other slip-on sneakers.ROMBAUT is putting pure, un-complicated ironic mundanity first, and in doing so it is brilliantly subverting the footwear industry -- something which is always focused on the tropes of more is more. Here, with models in matching white outfits, we get a chance to see things stripped back.Take a look at the "ARKANA" campaign above, and shop a selection of vegan footwear styles on ROMBAUT's website now.In other news, A-COLD-WALL* and Dr. Martens are back together again. Click here to view full gallery at Hypebeast