They’re regarded as a fixture amongst farmers, fishmongers and festivalgoers, but it surely appears wellington boots are falling out of favour with as soon as fevered followers.
On Wednesday, Hunter Boots, a stalwart of British footwear and festivals nationwide, went into administration, simply hours earlier than Glastonbury kicked off.
Blaming a mix of dry climate, excessive freight prices and the shuttering of its Chinese language manufacturing unit through the pandemic, the Edinburgh-based model has money owed of greater than £100m.
Later within the week, the wellington boot trade obtained one other kicking when Glastonbury’s founder, Michael Eavis, revealed he most popular strolling boots to wellies.
Alexa Chung in Hunter wellies at Glastonbury in 2016. {Photograph}: David M Benett/Getty Photos
“I don’t ever put on wellies,” Eavis mentioned in an interview with the Glastonbury Free Press newspaper. “They make your ft sweat. They’re actually unhealthy really.”
On the bottom at Glastonbury, it appears Eavis just isn’t alone.
With sunshine forecast for the entire weekend, most of the 200,000-plus festivalgoers have shunned wellingtons altogether.
“Wellies aren’t probably the most snug choice for strolling lengthy distances,” mentioned Billie Bhatia, a trend author who arrived on the Somerset web site on Friday. “They usually go away me with blisters. I’m dodging them as a lot as potential this yr.”
As an alternative Bhatia had packed a pair of New Stability trainers alongside mountain climbing boots from Canada Goose.
“I’m banking on my New Balances being my go-tos this week. I dwell in them in London and, though undoubtedly not as difficult terrain as Glastonbury, they’re tremendous snug, breathable and I do know I can final a very long time in them.”
Within the noughties, Hunter Boots had been as ubiquitous as denim shorts and flower crowns at Glastonbury, with stars reminiscent of Kate Moss and Alexa Chung pictured in mud-splattered pairs.
Wellipets {Photograph}: PR
However in 2023 the model is going through stiff competitors from different manufacturers delving into the useful footwear market.
Wearers of Crocs waterproof “Crush” boots boast about how mild they’re (weighing about 300g) whereas the heritage French model Aigle has attracted a youthful viewers with its new cropped model.
Grazia’s trend director, Molly Haylor, a Glastonbury veteran (this weekend is her ninth stint), has remained loyal to Hunter, however favours newer editions fairly than the normal knee-high variations.
For this yr’s competition she had packed a pair of ankle-high rubber lace-ups and a pair of slip-on sliders with a fake fur lining.
“The adjustable shorties are a no brainer. They’re straightforward to slide on and off so that you’re not rolling round outdoors your tent making an attempt to get a muddy welly off. I’ll put on the fuzzy slip-ons for teas run within the morning.”
The welly trade may also be buoyed with scenes from the present males’s trend week in Paris.
JW Anderson’s frog-faced Wellipets in conventional batrachian inexperienced are the shoe of selection on the entrance row. On Thursday, throughout torrential showers, some folks had been noticed in black Dunlop rubber wellies on the Rick Owens present, one of many hottest tickets at trend week.
Even Pharrell Williams, the brand new artistic director of Louis Vuitton, has endorsed them. Throughout his debut present on Tuesday evening, watched by Rihanna and Beyoncé, he despatched knee-high pairs of Wellingtons with a pixellated print down the catwalk.
