Nigel Cabourn's Discovery Sparked the Collaboration

The inspiration for this collaboration with Red Wing began when Nigel discovered vintage British Army combat boots from World War I. Found in excellent condition, remarkable for their 100-year age, the boots captured Nigel Cabourn's imagination, strengthening his desire to recreate them as contemporary footwear.

He believed that Red Wing was the only manufacturer capable of creating a shoe that maximized the inherent merits of those boots, and their mutual respect, combined with Nigel's passion, became the driving force behind this first collaboration.

The primary feature of these Munson boots is the revival of the Munson last (wooden mold), which Red Wing had phased out after the late 1960s. The Munson last was developed in 1912 by Dr. Munson, who was a professor of military hygiene at the Army School in Washington, for infantry boots. He spent four years examining the feet of approximately two thousand soldiers and investigating the fit of thousands of pairs of shoes to perfect this last. It was subsequently adopted as the standard last for military boots and is still used in some military boots today.

Red Wing's Potential Meets Nigel's Aesthetic Sensibility