Bootmaking is a brutally beautiful process, one in which industrial machinery meshes with true human artistry to create something functional and, often, aesthetically wonderful. Few have been at it longer than Spokane, Washington-based White’s Boots, which has made boots pretty much the same darned way for over 100 years.
You can feel the effort and materials that go into a pair of White’s when you pick them up; the boots’ substance and heft tells the story on its own. But seeing that process live in the factory is something else altogether.
Luckily, Seattle super-collaborator Division Road decided to create a video that takes you through just about every step of a White’s hand-bottomed stitchdown construction build, as their very fantastic recent collab boots make their way through the factory’s various stops. My personal favorite is that hand-sewn bottoming, but every process shines light on exactly how damn difficult, time consuming, and yes, artistic it is to build these boots.
Time consuming, though, the video is not! I strongly suggest blocking out 16 minutes and getting right after it.