Standard & Strange x Wesco: The Axe Breaker Boot

Posted June 29, 2018

The Wesco x Standard & Strange collaboration boot is up for grabs (again).

A few weeks ago news reached us of a pretty special pair of boots. Oakland based menswear mecca Standard & Strange had teamed up with the world-renowned boot maker Wesco. The idea: to create something worthy of Wesco’s 100 year anniversary.

Blink and you missed ‘em

These boots were produced in extremely limited quantities and ended up being sold out in a blink of an eye. So we are delighted to bring you the news that Neil and his team over at Standard and Strange are taking orders for another run of these amazing boots.

They are called the Axe breakers. Coming in at the 7-inch mark, these are mid-length boots built on the new Hendrik style from Wesco using the 1339 last. The elegant brogue toecap is held down with two rows of double stitching. This aesthetic is carried through to the quarter where we see the four-row stitching.

On the ankle, we see the original Wesco stamp from the 1920s and of course, they will ship in a 100-year anniversary box.

“Quebrar Hacha”

The name Axe Breaker is derived from the Horween leather used in these boots. The horsehide is both vegetable tanned and Chrome Tanned. This process is known as Combination Tanning. One of the tannins used in the vegetable tanning process comes from the Quebracho tree. The wood from the Quebracho is so damn tough, the name comes from the Spanish “quebrar hacha”. Directly translated this means Axe Breaker.

The resulting leather is a black tea-core horsehide. Very rare and very beautiful.

Details:

Black tea-core Horween Chromexcel horsehide
7″ height
Vibram #269 sole and heel
5 brass eyelets and two brass hooks
1339 Last
Take your size in Red Wing Heritage or Alden Barrie Last
E width size fits like a standard D width boot
Made in Oregon, USA

If you want a pair you’ll have to put down a $400 deposit with the balance of the $775 retail price to be paid in October of 2018 when these boots will ship. The price and a few short months to wait is not much when you consider that these boots could potentially last you a lifetime.

Collaboration, Made in America, Standard and Strange, Wesco

Matt Wilson

Before turning his attention toward clothing and fashion, Matt Wilson was a product designer. He witnessed first-hand the unethical manufacture of products designed and developed specifically for obsolescence and quickly recognised the inherent dangers of this attitude towards consumerism. A happy chance occurred when he discovered Raw Denim. Fascinated by the narrative contained in each garment, this newfound passion led him into a journey of discovery through the fashion and clothing industry. The qualities he found in a great pair of jeans he soon found in other garments, shoes and accessories. Up until February 2017, Matt was heavily involved with Selvedge Run, a trade show for menswear, shoes and accessories. A home for brands with a philosophy that aligned perfectly with his principles of craft and quality at the core of a good product. He now shares this passion the as the Editor of Rope Dye, an online men’s lifestyle magazine about the passion for well-crafted menswear as well as other cherished products and designs that baulk against today’s throw-away culture.