Timberland's 40th Anniversary

In an ever-changing fashion market, one brand has stood the test of time, crossing over from industry wear, to street wear to pop culture, and still making an impact on fashion 40 years later. And it all started with a boot. In celebration of its 40-year anniversary, Timberland premiered its upcoming Fall 2013 line to invited guests at Community 54, Toronto’s nostalgic boutique.

Storeowner Joel Reilly introduced Timberland’s marketing director Josh McKellar who ran the intimate early morning presentation.

“We teamed up today with Timberland on the event, because they are a core boot that has been around forever and the heartbeat of this whole scene, the street wear scene and crossover,” he said.

With the men’s and ladies’ fall lines set up around the store, McKellar compared and explained the highlights of each of the products and the thought and manufacturing process behind each of the designs.

“Specifically with this fall line, [what we are doing differently] is introducing new leather stories, stories that are authentic to in ’73 what we were using, our Tobacco 40 leathers and our Sundance 40 leathers. That’s kind of a celebration of what we’ve done for the anniversary,” he says.

New shapes, styles, leathers, fur, colourful laces and heels were added to the trademarked Timberland boot that we all recognize, but the key elements that make Timberland such a successful brand are still embedded in each boot the company manufactures, says McKellar.

“It is all about being true to who we are as a brand, which is authenticity and craftsmanship throughout all our lines,” he states.

“We look at what our best-selling product is and it is always the classic six-inch boot and it’s just staying true to that model. We still manufacture that boot in our own facilities, there is about 80 steps to making that boot and most are still done by hand, every piece of leather is cut and put through that sewing machine by hand, so staying true to the manufacturing process of that boot.”

In September, the lifestyle brand also announced that it would be bringing a limited line of products from the Timberland vault in celebration of the 40th year anniversary. The boot itself has left a legacy and with new, modern designs paying homage to the original boot, it is safe to say Timberland is nowhere near the end of the road.