Back in 2014 we'd become fed up with buying desert boots from well known brands where the quality was so variable and seemed to be determined by the colour you chose.
Suedes that were stiff like plastic, man-made fibreboard inside, skimpy soles made of milled crepe that can get super slippery in the wet and made in faceless factories the far east. Prices seemed to go up, but sadly over time quality went down.
"Surely, it must be possible to make a better desert boot?"
Digging into the archives, reviewing hundreds of vintage adverts, thousands of images of desert boot wearers in days gone by we came to the conclusion that we could make something as good as they once were, but for today.
We remembered these iconic boots when they were Made in England, of all leather components, made by generations of stitching machinists, pattern cutters, leather room experts. As a child in 70s and a teenager in the 80s I remembered clearly wearing desert boots that were beautifully made, soft and comfortable.
'Made in Italy' Comes to the Rescue
Thankfully, we knew exactly where to look to replicate that experience: Italy.
Aside from their love of producing quality footwear, the Italians have had a love affair with desert boots going back to the early 1960s and our factory was one of the biggest makers at the time. We persuaded them to dust off their old lasts and patterns and to help us reverse a global trend and add in as much quality as possible.
What we ended up with is something we truly believe is the best classic desert boot available today - a boot which costs nearly three times the price at our factory gate than our more famous competitor's product does at theirs, but which we are selling for only a fraction more*.
A Gap in the Market for Premium Quality
We knew we weren't alone in feeling there was a gap in the market for a return to quality - the response on social media to our plan to bring back 'desert boots the way they used to be made' has hit a nerve with the public and the response has been literally hundreds of fans signing up for updates*.
*For a limited time, if you sign up to our mailing list we'll give you a 15% discount code that makes our desert boots even better value.
Our Limited Edition 'Type 01' Desert Boots are available online only, whilst stocks last.
