The Original Chippewa Heritage Boot Line

[bl@ster]

I've yet to hear ANYTHING about this line. Supposedly they start shipping August 1st. If that's so, they're not doing much marketing/promotion. Maybe it's time to ask Chipp himself.

Update: Emailed Chipp customer service tonight. Will post here when I hear something...

 

[bl@ster]

Nothing yet back from Chippewa re: the Heritage line, but I did dig up this photo from a tradeshow. The packaging looks very cool.

 

[bl@ster]

Finally got a response from Chippewa about the impending launch of the heritage line. Sounds like it's nearly go-time:

"We will be launching an updated site soon that will have the new product, complete with a retailer listing for the heritage line. Keep a lookout for it within the next month or two!"

 

[mlwdp]

The some of the line is now available on Zappos.

http://www.zappos.com/chippewa-men~...w/desc/goLiveDate/desc/recentSalesStyle/desc/

 

[bl@ster]

Nice catch, mlwdp.

Some good stuff here, the service boots looks very nice:

As well as the Homestead boot (or "Katahdin's done right" as I've heard some people call them):

And some tasty new monkey boots (now called Bridgeman):

Some new Engy's. Not my thing but others will like them. Not sure how they're different from their other Engy boots:

And some Oxfords (haven't seen oxfords from Chippewa before):

I just kopped a pair of Homestead's and Service Boots. will post pics when they arrive. One thing that'll be interesting is whether they're in line quality-wise with the J. Crew collabs from last year or the Zappos exclusives from last year. The price point is similar to the J. Crew line so we'll see... the prices are about 40-50 dollars higher than last year's Zappo's line (which are still for sale on Zappos). I got the feeling that even the J. Crew stuff was slightly below Red Wing quality (ie. is that a leather insole under the foam insole or some sort of fiberboard?). We shall see.

One minor point, I prefer the Indian Chief logo:

To the one they're using on this latest batch:

Perhaps they're really playing up the "1901" in the branding as a bit of a jab at Red Wing, who wasn't founded until 4 years later.

I'll also be interested to see what kind of packaging these come in. Will we get the regular old Chippewa box (like the Katahdin's and GQ's come in) that we're used to:

Or will we get that nice Indian Chief retro artwork on the box like we've seen from various tradeshows:

Regardless of the box, I hope they still have the "certificate of authenticity" -- somewhat pointless perhaps but it's always a nice little touch with Chipps.

 

[shizlefonizle]

Please keep up updated, really want to know more about these boots

 

[SurakiCrim]

Loving the price and look of these boots. Any Canadian stockists?

 

[flatspotting]

Loving the price and look of these boots. Any Canadian stockists?

X2... Those Homestead boots are just what I'm after

 

[jbunds]

X2... Those Homestead boots are just what I'm after

They are actually so nice! I just grabbed a pair from J.Crew this past week. The colour of the leather is amazing and they wont even have to be broken in judging by how soft it is.
Here's some pics

 

[red81]

i went through 2 pairs of katahdins in 4 weeks. the heel came off in both after a couple weeks of wear (i returned both, and they were still so fresh i couldn't even lace them up 100%, that's how rough the leather was still). they looked great and the quality was fine, minus the heels. for this reason alone , i had to pony up money and buy iron rangers.

does anyone know if they nail the heel on the heritage line or if it's still just glued on?

 

[bl@ster]

Not sure how we missed this Selectism blurb from May 2013, but apparently there will be an "Original" and "Reserve" collection. Wasn't really clear what the difference is between them.

http://www.selectism.com/2013/05/09/chippewa-fall-winter-2013-original-reserve-collections/

"Chippewa send over their selection for Fall Winter 2013. Perhaps a little underrated in amongst the scores of ‘Work Boots’ available on the market, the brand has an impressive history going back to 1901. Wisconsin born, their primary product was a top quality logging boot for area camps in the pulp and paper industry. They soon went on to be one America’s top-selling footwear manufacturers, making their mark with both work shoes and their incredibly popular motorcycle engineer boots. So, back to today’s Chippewa, thankfully the brand have kept true to their roots, no fancy-pants updates or unwanted frills and tricks. They’re also damn comfortable, we can attest to that. Here we look at the Original and Reserve collections: American hide leather, Goodyear leather welt, Vibram outsole, handcrafted in USA. You know the score. Find them in stores, including J Crew, soon. Take a look."

Another blurb here:

http://www.thecrosbypress.com/2013/05/09/the-original-reserve-collections-from-chippewa-for-fw13/

And then according to this Esquire article, looks like the "Reserve" collection is a higher-end collab with Jean Shop:

http://www.esquire.com/blogs/mens-fashion/chippewa-reserve-collection-jean-shop-collaboration-0713

"Boots and denim are about as natural a pairing as you can get (in the sartorial sense, at least). Hell, none other than Justin Theroux extolled the virtues of the "winter from the waist down" look in our April issue. And with good reason: It's tough, classic, dependable. And unflinchingly American. So it's really just good common sense that Chippewa — 112-year-old purveyors of all manner of rugged boots — would team up with a brand like New York's Jean Shop to celebrate another milestone: the launch of the new, American-made Original Chippewa Reserve Collection.

The result of the Jean Shop collaboration? An eight-inch moc-toe engineer boot crafted from heavily oiled Horween leather sitting atop a Vibram outsole. "As a historic American company, Chippewa is thrilled to partner with a brand such as Jean Shop that believes in the same American-made and American-loved standard as we have since 1901," said Chippewa brand manager Clark Perkins. Jean Shop co-founder Eric Goldstein echoed the sentiment. "Classic jeans and footwear. Made in the USA. A perfect match." Couldn't have said it better ourselves.

The Original Chippewa x Jean Shop engineer boot will be available for $495 this holiday season at Jean Shop's NYC location plus other select retailers. Take another look at the boots below, then keep scrolling to see a few of our favorites from the Reserve Collection, which, ahem, reboots styles from Chippewa's extensive archives."

 

[wildstar]

Really excited to see this line up, some great looking boots there. I love my Katahdin's, for the money they are hard to beat.

 

[Froosh]

I wish those service boots had a leather sole option!

 

[bl@ster]

All right boys, like I said I kopped a couple pair of Service Boots and some Homestead Boots from the new heritage "Original" line (as they're calling it). And here are my impressions.

First off, kudos to Chippewa. This line is very well done and should be a direct competitor to Red Wing's heritage line. To answer a few of my own questions from above, these boots are in line quality-wise with the J. Crew collab from last year -- not really surprising. The leathers are excellent, even better than what Red Wing offers on their heritage stuff. The "Cordovan" cowhide is super gorgeous, a true pull up leather with those burgundy highs and lows. This is obvious but please keep in mind that "Cordovan" is just the name of the leather, it is not shell! The "Sand Suede" is very nice though I do wish the nap was a little more uniform among the various cuts (not a big deal). The "Crazy Horse" leather is also very nice, similar to the leather that the LL Bean Katahdins come in but less dark in color and more refined in appearance (less scratches and whatnot). The Crazy Horse leather actually looks like Natural Chromexcel but a bit darker out of the box -- meaning it looks like Natural CXL after you've applied Obenauf's Heavy Duty LP. I didn't get my hands on any of the black leathers or the more reddish "Tan Renegade" leather. As far as build quality, they do feel well made but I still think they are just slightly below Red Wing quality and QA -- I'd love to hear other opinions on this. I still have questions about what that insole is made out of.... is it some sort of fiberboard or actual leather? Anyone know? The packaging is indeed that beautiful Indian Chief art that we've seen from the tradeshows -- a very nice visual upgrade from their usual packaging. No certificate of authenticity! Damn, I kinda liked that little touch with the Katahdins. And here's what surprised me the most... no padded insole at all (again the Katahdin does have an orange foam removable insole). It wouldn't be strange if the insole was obviously leather like the Red Wing line, but the Chippewa insole is quite hard. I feel like you'd need to provide your own insole. Odd choice there. Laces.... an important element that's often overlooked. They got the laces right -- waxed flat cotton laces (similar to the Wolvy 1000 Mile laces) for the all eyelets boots and round waxed cotton for the boots with speed hooks. Speaking of the eyelets and speedhooks, they are also done just right in a nice antique brass finish. No more ugly hex-eyelets like from the Katahdin.

And as for the fit... Chippewas are always difficult to size but after measuring the insoles of these vs Red Wing Heritage boots, Wolverine 1000 Mile, Aldens, etc, I think the Original Chippewa line runs True to Size. So If you wear thick socks and provide your own insole, I'd order TTS. If you wear with thin socks and no insole, you could probably get away with going .5 size down. As always with fit, YMMV.

On to the photos! These were done fairly quickly as I unboxed stuff, so keep that in mind. Please note that these pictures make the Crazy Horse leather look a bit lighter than it really is. Also, click on the thumbnails for high res photos:

That nice box:

Sand Suede Service Boot:

"Cordovan" Cowhide Service Boot:

"Crazy Horse" Leather Homestead Boot:

The side of the box lists this url: http://www.csmfgco.com/

 

[shizlefonizle]

Looks like the some of the service boots are up on J Crew, and theyre having a 25% off purchases $150+ with code FALLSTYLE.