What a sustainable shoe brand can do. What is the UPCYCLE PROJECT by Red Wing?

When you think of "Made in U.S.A." work boots, the first that comes to mind is "RED WING. The brand's universal design with age-old durability, robust construction that is the essence of work boots, and high repairability that allows them to be revived again and again through repeated repairs. The brand's new "UPCYCLE PROJECT" has been made possible by these attractive features. Through this project, we want to communicate the sustainability of Red Wing," says Seiya Abe, Marketing Manager for Asia. Let him tell us what exactly he is going to do.

Photo_Toyoaki Masuda

Text_Yuichiro Tsuji

Edit_Yosuke Ishii

It is interesting to see the various expressions of the same model.

I feel that you are proud to be a company that manufactures products with the assumption that they will be repaired.

Abe:Red Wing's items have three key characteristics: "Durable," "Repairable," and "Recyclable. Durable" refers to the timeless and enduring design and durability of the item in the first place. Repairable" refers to the high level of repairability I just mentioned. And "recyclable" means that the item is easy to pass from parent to child, from senior to junior, from person to person, because of the two points mentioned before.

Abe:Red Wing's directly managed stores display aging samples, which are shoes that have actually been worn by staff members and aged to look cool, and we will be selling these shoes in the future as well.

That's a unique experiment.

Abe:Whenever a new boot was released, our staff would wear it for days to grow samples, and we had many such aging samples. We had so many aging samples that customers would ask us, "Do you sell these? We had so many aging samples that customers would ask us, "Do you sell these? Depending on how the boots were worn, some were polished to a shine, while others were worn to shreds, and we would repair them before selling them.

Abe:The area around the eyelets may be discolored, but we clean up these areas of concern before releasing the shoes. After all, it is only when shoes are worn by people that they can shine in their original glory.

I have some samples of the aging process here, but I have to say, worn-in Red Wings are very cool.

Abe:Some items are samples after being worn for a little while, while others are boots that have been aged for one or two years. It is unique that each person ages the boots differently, and the distance between the staff member's home and the store can also make a difference. It would be great if customers like these items and pick them up. Because they are one-of-a-kind items, they must fit the customer's size, but I am confident that if they fit well, the customer will be delighted with the item.