The boot world is defined by a perpetual turning of the wheel: people find something cool, hone in it for a while, and then—out of boredom or good old curiosity—try to find something new, no matter how strange. Finally, the wheel comes to rest in its original position and people settle back into the core styles they liked all along, but with a few tweaks discovered in the course of those explorations. So what does the current revolution have to offer? Plenty of new Viberg makeups in two different veg-tans from Badalassi, a new barefoot boot from Goral and Division Road, Addict and Rolling Dub Trio in stock at East West Apparel, and plenty more…
All of our past releases are collected here.
[Ed Note: while we never choose anything specifically because of them, some of these recommendations contain affiliate links—the price is the same for you, but Stitchdown gets a small commission if you make a purchase. It’s essential to keeping the site alive, so we really, really appreciate it.]
Viberg Service Boot 2055 in Asmodeo Nero: $1,300
A new week, a new leather, a new Viberg release—it’s only a slight exaggeration to say this has been a summer of triumph for the Canadian bootmaker. The pendulum that swung towards dressy for the last year or two is headed back in the other direction, but it’s bringing along newly refined lasts, patterns, and skills. This week, all of that is coming together with two leathers from Badalassi Carlo. The first is Asmodeo—a soft but dense veg-tan—which appears in black on a 2055 Service boot with a plain, munson-inspired toe and Dr. Sole half soles…
Viberg Service Boot 310 SCT in Asmodeo Avolda: $1,300
…and in the red-brown “Avola” on a 310 service boot with a straight cap toe, and Dr. Sole half soles.
Viberg Service Boot 2030 BCT in Nemesis Cotto: $1,300
The second leather is Nemesis, a tumbled veg-tan with a fine grain pattern and fair bit of natural color variation. It’s available on a brogued-cap toe service boot with ridgeway outsoles, and a few other makeups you can check out here, including a Navvy Boot which—unlike the rest of the boots in the release—uses a welted construction rather than stitchdown.
Division Road x Goral Barefoot Apron Boot in Timber Chromexcel: $485
If you’re a zero-drop warrior, this one’s for you. Division Road has a new collaboration with the Sheffield-based sneaker brand Goral, which despite their ever-youthful sensibilities happens to celebrating its 90th anniversary. As barefoot boots go, these are pretty tough, with a hybrid construction that’s Blake-welted and then sidewall stitch attaching the cup soles to uppers in teacore Timber Chromexcel.
Addict Narrow Engineer Boots in Black Horsehide: $1,235
All it takes to pick out an Addict boot is a quick glance at the last—flat toe, some pretty significant toe spring, and a smooth curve up the instep mirrored by a symetrical but shallower curve along the bottom of the sole. It’s a unique formla, and it works on a wide range of pull on boots, including the engineer and jodhpur boots that popped up at East West Apparel this week. The engineers have V-bar half soles…
Addict Jodhpur Boots in Black Horsehide: $1,046
…while the jodhpurs are built on Dainite, but both use 270˚ flat welts and uppers clicked from black oiled horsehide. We especially like the angle of the cuban heel on these.
Rolling Dub Trio M42.5 Boots in Black Esprit de Chrome: $791
East West apparel is also carring Rolling Dub Trio’s M42.5—a boondocker riff that combines a last based on the M42 and the upper pattern and stitching of the M43. The leather is a French, chrome-tanned cowhide with a black overdye and brown core, while the outsoles are rubberized cork. They do note than this particular last can feel a little tight at first because of how low profile the last is, so keep that in mind if you’re thinking of picking them up and you have higher volume feet.
Rolling Dub Trio Casper in Green Horsehide: $960
Speaking of RDT, Berlin’s Berg und Schild have a new run of the Casper side-zip in some green Italian Horsehide that has a ton of color variation. This time the soles are their signature cork with rubber heels and a leather insert to permit the attachment of toe taps.
Phigvel Ghillie Moccasin in Black Gudi Calf: $713
Phigvel was founded in 2003, and alongside Real McCoys (founded in 2001) and Engineered Garments (founded in 1999), it’s part of the generation that expanded the design language of the Japanese Americana scene and helped bring it overseas—including back to U.S. And while their primary phocus (had to do it) is on clothing, they also turn out some pretty unique footwear, including these Ghillie mocs, which blend together wide ranging details: the camp-shoe silhouette associated with Maine moccasins, the Scottish ghillie lacing system, and the kilties, which in this context manage to do both “logger boot” and “80s loafer”. There’s a black version…
Phigvel Ghillie Moccasin in Chestnut Brown Gudi Calf: $713
…and a brown version, both in calfskin tanned by Guidi.
Meermin SWAY Penny Loafer in Burgundy Heritage Shell: $375
Meermin restocked the Burgundy shell version of their SWAY last penny loafer, which is placed firmly in Ivy territory by its steep walls, round toe, and shorter vamps. Because this is Meermin we’re talking about, there are a few details that are pretty rare at this pricepoint, including closed channel stitching on the leather outsoles and a handsewn apron. And then there’s the leather: don’t expect their Heritage Shell to behave like Horween or Shinki Cordovan—it’s sort of its own thing, developed exclusively for Meermin by a tannery they’re keeping quite secret.
Alden High Vamp Loafer in Black Shell Cordovan: $975
The fact the LHS had minor explosion in popularity (outside the Alden die-hards who’ve been wearing it all along) and then got much harder to come by created the perfect storm for other Alden loafers to proliferate, but even still, this a pattern you don’t see very often: the High Vamp is a cousin of the Full Strap which uses the same Aberdeen last but features a shorter strap and a bound mouth. It has a machine sewn apron and a high vamp—don’t say they didn’t warn you. Alden Madison just got a run in black shell cordovan, with 270˚ flat welts and leather outsoles.
Alden Indy Boot in Clay Suede: $760 (Pre-order)
Alden Madison also running a pre-order on the a Clay Suede Indy makeup, with crepe outsoles and 360˚ split reverse welts. Estimated delivery is spring 2027.