Everyone needs an exceptional pair of boots.

In 1985 I saw a Timberland ad that I never forgot. An actual print ad that you find when you read GQ or M Magazine. That’s how companies were discovered then—via print ads.

The ad was so meaningful to me that when I found the only store in Toronto that carried Timberlands, I used the money I saved to buy a pair of their iconic boat shoes. At the time these were made in the US in New Hampshire. They were around $90 which was a lot for me then and also a lot for a pair of shoes.

In 1993 I bought their legendary boots which were also made in the US. I still have them.

Then I watched Timberland go off track and stopped wearing them. Made in different countries and available everywhere including every outlet mall you could find.

From 1984 to 1992 I had a corporate job at BMG Music so I wore “work” clothing which were either dress pants (trousers to quote Phil Liggett talking beside me in Kona), khakis (only Polo), or occasionally a suit. This meant I wore loafers or boat shoes—Timberland (not Sperry) and Bass Weejuns which were also made in the US back then.

Then I started Rip N Hammer in 1993 and wore Nike; Jordans daily and Pegasus to run, but raced in Nike Air Mariah racing flats.

In 2001 I was in the “golf industry” so it was back to dress pants and suits again…not the navy blazer and poorly cut tan pants (that was the vibe back then) but suits that were cut properly in Italy…So I wore Church’s and Crockett and Jones exclusively made in England. If you know you know.

In 2009 I was in Colorado and stopped by at a Red Wing store in a strip mall because I read a lot about them on A Continuous Lean.

Made in USA and traditional work boots. Not only was the construction really good—they looked rad.

So I wore them to a meeting with Nordstrom in Seattle. They wanted to carry the golf brand I had back then. I was a green grass guy but took the meeting (my gut told me not to sell to them as it would mess up our golf core business). More on that in another journal.

I also wore a pair of Levi’s 501s that I bought in Toronto that were either made in Japan or the US. I can’t remember but they were expensive and I had been a Levi's 501 guy my whole life.

The Nordstrom buyer looked at my clothing in disgust while he wore a bad attempt at looking professional yet “ fashionable”.

Whatever. When I’m not visiting a pro shop, I’m going to dress the way I want. The biggest look of disgust though came at the boots you see here in this photo. These boots are currently 17 years-old. That’s how long I’ve had them for.

At lunch before my meeting with Nordstrom, the waiter came over to me and asked me about my Red Wings and we had a pretty good chat about them.

I actually consider the Red Wing branding and marketing to be kind of whatever and like New Balance, they fell into a category of customers who wanted heritage, made in USA in 2009 before it was a thing. Japanese dudes were wearing Red Wings and New Balance 993s back then because of what they stood for manufacturing wise—not the branding which was mediocre from both brands.

Want to understand how brands and trends work?

This is how it works: you make something worthy, it gains trust and people find you. So in Japan in 2009, those dudes—who were already deep into selvedge denim—were wearing Red Wings (only the ones made in USA), New Balance 993 in black or grey and Birkenstock Clogs with wool socks.

Look at New Balance and Birkenstock today; they can thank Japan for all of that. You think New Balance or Red Wing strategically thought of this when they were selling Dad shoes and work boots? No, they literally fell into it.

If Japan likes what you’re doing it’s because you earned their respect. Then it ends up in London, Paris, then New York and Los Angeles.

Soon after, fashion houses will discover it and incorporate it into runway shows or just replicate it.

See Celine - Phoebe Philo era (2013) to see how Birks went from old school footwear company made in Germany—that was mocked as a granola shoe—to Japanese Denim dudes to Celine to Gwyneth Paltrow to Moms around the world and just kept spreading …

Walk in a mall today in the mid west of America and every kid is wearing Birkenstock shoes 17 years after the Japanese guys took the product into their lives.

You’re welcome (to those who want to understand how trends work and scale).

Make worthy product.
Build trust.
The right people will find you.
They’ll tell their circle of friends.
Then overnight (not)…boom you’re a thing.

So back to the boots.

I wear my Red Wings a lot. They are beat to shit.

I needed black boots and wasn’t going to buy another pair of Red Wings because the quality now is hit and miss.

So I started researching black moto boots and 3 companies kept coming up:

Whites (I think they are actually Japanese owned)
Addict Japan
The Flat Head

Tried them all on and The Flat Head are by far the best boots on the planet if you wear Selvedge Denim, ride a motorbike or just want a pair of timeless boots you can pass down to your son…

Get good boots that last. Nothing has changed.

Why print has always mattered… more analog

Mad Magazine.

Circus Magazine.

GQ. and M Magazine.

Thrasher.

Monocle.

The Local Project.

Cereal.

Vahna.

Dice.

When I was in Grade 4 (back in the 1700’s), I bought my first copy of Mad Magazine with my allowance. It mocked everything back then and you could even say it was an early print version of South Park.

Then I bought Circus Magazine to follow my Kiss obsession.

When I was 18 I bought my first GQ and M Magazine which my friends at the time mocked me as I was getting interested in men’s “fashion”. Back then both publications were super informative and you learned about what was classic and also what was coming; like seeing the very first Tommy Hilfiger ad. But back then Polo owned those magazines and that world. I was a Polo guy for a very long time in the 80s and early 90s because of the ads in those magazines.

Thrasher magazine still sits in our retail shops now for customers to read.

I’ve subscribed to Monocle Magazine since day 1 when Tyler Brule started publishing it. It’s beautifully printed and truly global with its features on design, food, travel, clothing and architecture. It’s still full of select advertisers and worth subscribing to if you want to understand what’s happening around the world. The editorial is world class and worth reading from front to back.

The Local Project I discovered on Youtube watching channels on architecture and interior design. The magazine is literally 1 inch thick and heavy with incredible quality of paper. Their Youtube channel blew my mind, but when the magazine arrived at my house I was really blown away.

Packaged in a thick paper sleeve with two other publications: The Commercial Project and The Local Marketplace. On top of that, it arrived in a cardboard custom fold out protective box. You need a good hour just to look at the imagery and design before you even read any of the articles inside. One of the best magazines in the world and they’ve nailed how to bring the analog and digital world together.

Cereal Magazine
Now no longer releasing issues but we ran an FR. ad in Cereal back in 2016. They stopped publishing in 2022. Yeah. Look this magazine up.

Vahna
One of the greatest magazines ever focused on moto. We ran lots of FR. ads in there and Ben Giese (one of its founders) now runs Ride Bynd which we are a proud sponsor of.

Dice
More to come…

I love print. Read magazines. Keep them and look back at them years later. Nothing has changed.

Brands using moto in their content

The list is long now.

If you look at certain brands that never associated themselves with moto culture and all of a sudden see moto content, it’s clear nobody in the company rides. They’re chasing the relevance of motorcycle culture because they think they can sell more shit.

Don’t.

You’re embarrassing yourself. You wanna be in moto but you need to earn the right to be there and ride. Like we all do.

Thanks for reading.

Peace

- ralph | fr.