For more than 160 years, Scottish purveyors of outdoor footwear, Hunter, has made the natural world more accessible. Its shoes have always sought to connect people to the environment around them be it marshy bogs or alpine peaks. So it should come as no surprise that Hunter’s latest Spring/Summer 22 collection is a testament to that over a century-long legacy.
As part of their innovative new stylings, Hunter is switching up its classic designs. While you may associate the brand with those knee-high rubber galoshes, these new looks will flip those preconceptions on their head. Enter: the Desert Commando and Chelsea Commando boots—two hiking-inspired styles that look just as good on the trail as they do on the train to work.
The Desert Commando splashes onto the scene in 100% cotton canvas that keeps cool in the summer and insulates during the warmer months. The water-resistant and lightweight shoes come in black, dark olive, and white and feature a chunky sole with deep treads that make any terrain traversable. The Chelsea Commando silhouette has been pulled from the Hunter archives but updated to fit the present moment. For the low-cut boots, Hunter has used 100% vegan natural rubber so the shoes feel just as good as they look.
To celebrate its newest offerings, Hunter Boots took to the trails of Calabasas to put the boots to the test. The brand enlisted the help of Hike Clerb, an LA-based intersectional women’s hiking club. Evelynn Escobar founded the group in 2017 to ameliorate what she saw as an issue: a lack of women and people of color enjoying the outdoors. Through experiences, meet-ups, and organizing, Escobar is seeking to fill that gap.
"Collectives like Hike Clerb are so important because being able to see yourself represented in a new space or environment or activity really broadens your horizons and your idea of what is possible," Escobar says. "It’s a community that is so needed. Everyone wants to belong, wants to feel seen, wants to feel heard."
It only makes sense that a brand so focused on accessibility—to the outdoors, to new environments—partner up with an organization that’s carving out space for increased accessibility, as well. Guided by the statement, "Where’s your outside?" Hunter’s newest styles make it so that your outside could be anywhere, anytime, with anyone.
This marks the inaugural hike for a new Hunter initiative called Hunter Hikes, with an ambition to grow a global community exploring the world outside their way – guided by the ethos that the outdoors is for all. And with their newest shoes, it just seems like it could be.
Shop the new Hunter boots here.
