There’s a quiet truth every runner knows: the trail doesn’t just test the body, it erodes the ego. You don’t return from a long run the same way you left. Not clean, not polished, but marked. Marked by terrain, air, and time.
A Blank Canvas for Movement
At its core, the "Gesso" Peregrine 15 is a blank canvas—literally and conceptually. Named after the priming layer artists apply to canvas or wood, “Gesso” speaks to preparation over perfection. It’s not meant to be pristine. It’s meant to be changed.
From the outset, 3sixteen’s approach wasn’t to reimagine the function of Saucony’s proven trail runner, but to reframe how we wear it. Instead of neon colors or synthetic flashes, the Gesso is built with a raw off-white mesh and tonal hairy suede trims—materials chosen not just for their look, but for how they age, stain, and absorb pigment. It's a shoe that takes on experience, visibly.
It’s a canvas for more than color. It’s a canvas for your life, whether that means dyed by plants, muddied by trails, or softened by city wear.
Crafted for Every Kind of Artisan
This collaboration wasn’t built for sneakerheads. It was built for craftspeople.
From specialty coffee roasters to ceramicists, runners to vinyl collectors—this shoe was made for anyone who’s deeply embedded in their process. The Gesso isn’t trying to steal attention. It’s trying to hold meaning.
To extend the metaphor, 3sixteen partnered with Green Matters Natural Dye Company—a plant-based dye studio based in Pennsylvania’s Amish country. Together, they created four hand-dyed colorways, each using a different natural material: indigo, weld, madder root, and chestnut. The process is labor-intensive and deeply intentional. Each pair carries streaks, inconsistencies, and tonal variations that reflect the dye process—no two shoes are exactly alike.
These aren't "colorways" in the hype-driven sense. They’re lived-in evolutions. Patina, not paint.
Form and Function in Balance
While the aesthetic is subdued, the Peregrine 15’s performance DNA remains untouched—meaning the Gesso isn’t just wearable, it’s runnable. The shoe’s lightweight platform, aggressive outsole, and breathable upper make it trail-ready. But its design restraint makes it city-versatile.
This duality is the point. As 3sixteen co-founder Andrew Chen says in our short film:
We wanted to make something that could do more. That you could wear on a trail, but also with any fit. A shoe that changes with you.
it’s not just gear, it’s gear with memory.
It’s a shoe that shows where you’ve been, not just what you’ve bought. A product that lives with you, wears with you, and becomes something personal over time.
Whether you’re brewing coffee at 6am, throwing clay on a wheel, or logging quiet trail miles in the woods— this is for the ones who move with intention.
Release Dates:
- July 10 — Indigo & Sunflower editions release at 3sixteen NYC, LA, and online
- July 17 — The undyed “Gesso” version launches globally through 3sixteen, Saucony, and select partners
- Late July — Granite and Rubia colorways arrive
Words by RUNNERSMOOD
Images curtesy of 3SIXTEEN