REDWING® SHOE CO. RELEASES PLANT-LEATHER WORKBOOT {Brand Action}
A regular shoe brand launching a plant-leather model might seem like a relatively small thing these days. But what if Red Wing Shoe Co were to finally create a “vegan-leather” boot? Handled smartly, the signal sent in making such a model could be a truly huge opportunity for this stalwart company to gain new customers, garner free mainstream media coverage, and prove they’re responding to the climate and cruelty demands of modern worldly times. As any modern company that wants to stay relevant simply must.
Red Wing Shoe Co is a truly rare brand built on a rich history that enjoys a radically loyal core of blue-collar workers – from fire-fighters to cowboys – yet also holds major relevance with hipsters and urban dwellers. Founded in Red Wing, MN, they’ve been making work boots and associated workwear since 1905. And in all that time, every model has been constructed of cow hide. After some brief research and a short internet chat with a representative of the company (see screen grab, below), it was confirmed that they’re still making ALL models from cow skin. But imagine if Red Wing were to collaborate with a new plant-leather such as NFW, Pinatex, Mylo from Bolt Threads, Desserto’s cactus leather, or others on this list.
Such a move would be a giant opportunity for Red Wing Co to not only calibrate with the times, but to also exercise an unprecedented level of transparency – quite unexpected for such a staunch heritage brand – and help a powerful sector of unpretentious consumers understand that “vegan stuff” is not froufrou, bleeding-heart or trendy. Of the myriad talking points that the Red Wing Shoe Co CMO could speak to and leverage, dispelling the widespread misconception that cow hide is simply a “by product” of the meat industry (it’s a co-product) could also be among them. Along with the actual shoe model upon which their press release would focus, they could also unveil long-range plans for continuing to R&D plant-leather with their partner supplier – in order to boost durability for hard-work footwear and eventually exceed the performance of cow leather. In doing so, Red Wing Co would help improve plant-leather viability for other workboot brands who will certainly follow their lead.
Obviously, we at IFA would love to see this happen. We are available and happy to help strategize this boot’s launch and develop a marketing/PR campaign. Or we can just talk it over, help name the model, do whatever it takes. Thank you.
