TIMBERLAND BOOT COMPANY Counterpane Series

"Depression-era inspired fashion" sounds highly contradictory, but even during the hard times in the late 1920s to 1930s, folks who had to pinch their pennies often managed - with great creativity and resourcefulness - to produce unique goods, including fashion, for themselves. Old clothes, feedsacks, scarps, even worn-out tyres were given new life and transformed into things like day wear, quilts and shoes. Colours may be more sombre, but design and cutting overtook trendiness, and artful artisanship came to the forefront.
Inspired by footwear from this long-ago time, the shoes from Timberland Boot Company tell a story of ingenuity, purposeful details and versatility. Nope, these aren’t the ordinary Timboes you’ve come to know, but rather a heritage range, under a separate division independent of the parent company. It is said that all Timberland Boot Company shoes (and clothes) are handcrafted using a process called "Worn and Repaired", which makes every article unique from its brother/sister.
Timberland Boot Company’s "Counterpane" series in particular is an absolute home run. Created basically to demonstrate the lost art of shoemaking, every mvery material, colour, stitching, detail and even flaw is intentional. The styles are simple and ridiculously comfortable, rugged yet polished, casual but also dressy enough to throw on with a suit and tie.

We'll be the first to admit that the Timberland brand doesn't make us think of dressy shoes, so we’re just completely surprised (in a very good way) at the old-school cool of the Counterpane Oxford. (RRP US$250)

A cousin of the Counterpane Oxford, the Counterpane Half-Cab is also pure unbridled style. You'd be hard pressed to find issue with this gorgeous shoe. (RRP US$275)

Post-industrial fantasy is not the only conduit that links the Timberland Boot Company to the past. The brand’s flagship store and showroom in Fournier Street, London is an old warehouse which has played host to a sack weaving business, a banana and tomato wholesaler and a clothing business. It is the perfect space to articulate the essence of the brand's storytelling.