After a Future73 initiative and collaboration with Mowalola was revealed last month, Timberland now unveils a special-edition Hip Hop Royalty 6-Inch Boot celebrating the 50th anniversary of both the Original Yellow Boot as well as the birth of Hip Hop. Recognizing the role that the Hip Hop community played in its brand history, Senior Footwear Designer Chris Dixon builds upon through lines in the past for the design.
Timberland’s yellow boot was originally released in 1973 to give outdoor workers the protection they needed. Coincidentally, Hip Hop was born in the Bronx that year, and the two worlds have found a unique synergy over the subsequent decades to the point they’re now inextricably linked. The boot’s purple uppers are said to nod towards the color’s association with royalty as well as a specific graffiti mural in the Bronx dedicated to Hip Hop’s founder DJ Kool Herc meanwhile, the gold eyelets and collar emulate a crown.
Gray soles take inspiration from NYC’s “Concrete Jungle†nickname and the Helcor fabrics on the backstay mimic the texture of vinyl records. Green labels on the tongue are reminiscent of a New York street sign with “Sedgwick Avenue†text in homage to the address of the house party where Hip Hop was supposedly born. Rounding out the look are hangtags depicting DJ turn tables, mic cord-like aglets, Timberland’s tree logo reinterpreted as a graffiti tag across the laterals, and thick serrated sole units.
In conjunction with the release, Timberland partners with CNSTNT DVLPMNT to curate youth mentorship and community activations to advance the representation of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color designers in the footwear industry.
“Having the opportunity to design in celebration of both boot and Hip Hop culture is a huge honor for me,†said senior footwear designer Chris Dixon. “The Hip Hop Royalty Boot project is Timberland’s way of giving Hip Hop its flowers and showing appreciation for what they have done for the brand. I am really happy to partner with Timberland and give young creatives something I did not have as a kid, which is the empowerment of creativity.â€
The Timberland Hip-Hop Royalty Premium 6-inch Waterproof Boots are now available online for $210 USD.
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