How Holly even made hiking boots hip
EVER since Holly Willoughby made her debut in the I’m A Celebrity jungle last week, donning a different pair of (admittedly rather glossylooking) hiking boots every day, the nation has been in a performance footwear frenzy.
Holly’s favoured Grenson Nanette boots sold out quicker than you can say ‘bushtucker’, and she’s also worn styles by Ganni and Maje.
It is, I admit, a confusing state of affairs. The last time I had any serious dealings with hiking boots, I was picking blobs of mud out of them at Girl Guides and regretting my slapdash application of Dubbin.
Putting the world of compass reading, OS maps and Kendal mint cake to one side for a moment, how did footwear with caterpillar treads and complicated metal eyelets stomp its way to the height of fashion?
We can probably thank Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell, who marched down the catwalk earlier this year for Louis Vuitton men’s collection (yes, menswear) in monogrammed macs, bare legs, and no-holds-barred hiking boots with metal toe-caps and two-tone laces.
Flanking creative director Kim Jones for his finale bow, the veteran supermodels looked sexy and cool, but also empowered.
Hiking boots were also worn at Copenhagen Fashion Week this year, on the feet of the influential Scandi fashion set.
They styled them with floaty dresses, tanned legs and insouciant cool. Ganni, the cult Danish brand, has a hiking boot (€349, ganni.com) that’s sure to have a waiting list as long as the Wild Atlantic Way. Get them while you can.
Purists might argue that the Ganni boot is more of a hiking boot/trainer hybrid. These boots take advantage of the technical innovations in modern, light, breathable sportswear materials, making them so much easier to wear than the clodhoppers of my youth.
There are some wild and decorative trainer/hiking hybrids in the stores at every price point. Uterque’s fabulous white version with sheepskin insert is irresistible (€135, uterque.com) and just the right side of bling.
There are also plenty of more traditional-looking hiking options in cosy autumn colours, from a mushroomy suede Nanette pair at Grenson (€299,
allsole.com) to conker brown leather at Penelope Chilvers (€371, penelopechilvers.com).
Zara’s mountain boots (€69.95,
zara.com) — part-hiker, partbiker — will also give any look that requisite bit of stomp.
So how do you wear your hiking boots without looking like you’re on a coast-to-coast trek? Rule No1 is to keep the rest of your look non-sporty — so no Gore-Tex or dog-walking fleeces. The trick is to wear hikers just as you have been styling your ankle boots — with skinny jeans and a blazer, a print midi-dress or super-sized knit.
Given utility and all things khaki is the big trend for spring/ summer 2019, you can justify your boots as a smart buy to see you through coming months.