Grant Stone’s Garrison service boot model is pretty darn close to the platonic ideal of a boot. A “tell a (highly artistically talented) kid to draw a boot, this is what you end up with” kind of boot.
Which is why it might be a bit shocking to learn that the Garrison is a hit-list of firsts for Michigan-based / manufactured in Xiamen, China Grant Stone.
Single-piece continuous heel counter panel? A first. 270-degree Goodyear welt construction? Never seen that before from Grant Stone. Hell, even the brass eyelets are new.
“For us it itself is such a long list of firsts in a lot of ways,” said Giovanni Doveri, Grant Stone’s Product Developer. “It’s the first time we’ve ever done all eyelets on a boot. First time 270. First time we’ve had brogueing on a boot that I know of.”
The first all-new model for Grant Stone since its Field Boot was released over a year ago, the Garrison service boot is all about these details. Even the eyelets are smaller—both in diameter of the actual lace holes, but also their overall footprint once stamped onto the quarters.
“It’s been in development for over two years now, and when I came on it was a 7 or 8 inch boot, definitely a tall boot,” Giovanni said. “But we take endless feedback from our customers, and they really wanted something of a more standard height. We also made them all on lug outsoles, which is also what people want. That kind of listening is not something every brand can actually do, which is why it’s very nice to be our size and have that direct connection to our customers.”
The overall silhouette of the Garrison fits neatly into Grant Stone’s lineup right between its initial boot offering, the still hugely strong Diesel model, and its dressier Edward and Cap Toe derby boots with their clean quarters. And when you add in the types of upper leathers that Grant Stone is using on the Garrison right from go—”we like to view this as a pattern that’s perfect for some more fun leathers,” Grant Stone Founder Wyatt Gilmore said—the idea of creating a new midpoint between pure casual and somewhat dressy adds up to a ton of sense.
On that leather list at the outset is Olive Minerva Box from Italian tannery Badalassi Carlo (a pebbled veg-tan in a shade that really delivers on its name), and C.F. Stead’s crimson classic kudu—yet another first for a brand that has done as much as any other in introducing the wonderfully unique African antelope leather to the boot world, but has only ever used the waxed versions of the article. On the Garrison’s release, Grant Stone is also unveiling its Brass Boots in the same two leathers.
And then perhaps not on the wild side but hey we need the classics too, the Garrison is also out at launch in Horween Color 8 Chromexcel.
Those three will soon be joined by even more aggressive articles, likely including from reborn Milwaukee operation Gallun (read more about them here, or listen to Ed Gallun on the Shoecast). And if you watch the video above, you’ll see Wyatt holding some samples in a ridiculous waxed Walpier leather—no guarantees on that hitting stock but it’s pretty fun to see where Grant Stone is thinking this boot can go.
In terms of sizing and widths, it should be typically straightforward and abundant. The Garrison boot is made on Grant Stone’s top-selling Leo last (the same as their Diesel, Edward, Ottawa, Cap Toe, and chukka boots, and also longwing bluchers), and will be available in D, E, and EEE widths up to size 13.
“While it might not be the most exciting part, we know how important it is to hold stock of a variety of sizes and widths,” Giovanni said. “But outside of the staple things we believe in, the Garrison is here to help us push the boundaries of what we can do, which I think is going to become a recurring theme over the next couple years.”
