It's a Hot (and Weird) Boat Shoe Summer
Even in the face of a blazing hot summer, there remains a contingent of people who are steadfastly shoe-on types, thank you very much. Their dogs are kenneled; their feet are as cloistered as a nun. You get the idea.
It can be a lonely life, living so against the sun-dappled grain. Not so this year. Instead, these temperamental summer months have seen one specific workwear brand’s rugged shoes rise to the top, notching collabs with everyone from Japanese brand nonnative and Chinese streetwear label Randomevent to the living embodiment of sunshine himself, Simon Porte Jacquemus.
This year, we’re living in the midst of a Sleek Timbs Summer — for good reason. Timberland may be most famous for its iconic “Yellow Boot,” but there’s more to the brand than its waterproof nubuck leather boots.
In a season packed with an ocean’s worth of boat shoes, Timberland’s surprisingly great take on the silhouette shines. That’s because this is no ordinary boat shoe. Instead, Timbs has filtered its workwear-level inclinations — rugged soles, quadruple stitching — into a seasonally appropriate boater that screams summer from the deck of a schooner.
This summer, Timberland’s 3-Eye Boat Shoe was turned a wavy lagoon blue by Jacquemus and given a furry animal-print update by Wacko Maria; it has reissued its loafer in an aged burgundy leather patina fit for old money men's club members, and had Randomevent add a touch of textured yellow suede to its Three-Eye Classic Lug.
We’re picking up from last summer, which was big for chopped and screwed Timbs: the Telfar x Timberland collection included a breezy Slip-On Loafer version of the boot, while Timberland itself debuted a Mule Vibram, which looks exactly like what you think it sounds like.
Timberland hasn’t caught up to where fashion is at. Rather, fashion has caught up with what Timberland is hawking: incredibly durable, supremely comfortable shoes built to last (no matter the season).
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