Last week we visited Los Angeles to get inspired at Rin Tanaka's Inspiration, the Rose Bowl Flea Market and all the other lovely places of LA. A 'denim haven' as LA is it surely has good roots for vintage boots. The stacks and bales and warehouses full of vintage jeans where all accompanied with beautiful aged Red Wing Shoes. Straight from the mines and factories! Here some images taken at Inspiration, the Rose Bowl, our secret denim dealer and more. Enjoy!

It is always inspiring to visit the fairs, last week Pitti Immagine Uomo in Florence, and this week Bread & Butter in Berlin. We decided to get our focus on Red Wing Shoes and we can say, it's good to see so many people enjoying their boots. Here's just a little preview of a huge collection of images which we will share online later this month at Red Wing Shoes Amsterdam. And there's more. Tomorrow we will sit down with Nigel Cabourn and Gabor Magyar (Red Wing Europe) to talk about their latest collaboration, the Munson Boot. Later more on that.

We're at Pitti Immagine Uomo in Florence, getting some inspiration, celebrating some new and upcoming Red Wing Shoes and collaborations (more on that this afternoon) and shooting as many people in Red Wing boots we can capture. Stay tuned and follow us on Twitter for more updates.

We are always happy to see it's getting colder, we love the winter, the short days and adventurous trips in the snow and on the ice. Yesterday I received this photo in the mail with a beautiful monologue on why it was so special. About the composition, the different tones of grey, but primarily about the mess and the huddle on the deck. How on earth could they sail in this kind of mess between the floes and ice bergs, what was the story behind it, who was it?
The only thing we know is that it was a crew member of one of Bob Barlett's expeditions to the Arctic, taking a movie of ice berg off the bow of the ship, Greenland, 1939 (Smithsonian Institution Archives)
A truly amazing image, and definitely one that feeds our desire to sail between these floes and ice bergs ! (Thank you Ferry for sharing!)

Yes, it is better in the wind! Scott Toepfer finally put online the full length short movy ‘It's Better In The Wind’. For the last two years he have been taking still photographs for a personal project entitled 'It's Better In The Wind,' all the while collecting video footage from each ride as they traveled around the Western United States together. The result is this lovely short movie, in his own words ‘just a collection of imagery that will hopefully inspire more people to take to the road and discover what there is outside of our respective communities.’ It does inspire us! Especially with the tunes of Chuck Ragan on the background - the only thing I want is hop on that bike, and hit the road….

About a year ago Red Wing Shoes Amsterdam was invited to Red Wing, Minnesota to pay a visit to the Red Wing Shoe factory and tannery. Our mission:  to discover first hand the deepest secrets  of the American, old school  production process. The factory is home to a hospitable team of employees, most of whom have worked at the Red Wing factory for nearly 30 years. All the craftsmen and -women ply  their own particular craft on the old machinery. Some of the Red Wing machines  were  patented in 1893 and have,  to this very day, not been replaced.
The S.B. Foot tannery is older than the  Red Wing Shoes factory itself. The brand bought the tannery in the 80s to control the entire production process of the shoes. Almost  all  the machines are sourced from Italy because that is where the best equipment for this purpose  comes from. Most of these  have  been altered  so they can process the thick leather that’s used for work boots.  After sorting and shaving,  the leather is colored, dyed, oiled, waxed, dried and finished to the exact requirements of a specific type of leather shoe. 
It was not just the mechanical supremacy that  was a sight to behold. The human elements involved, such as the workers’ loyalty, craftsmanship and the pride they take in their work was something we had not witnessed before. Our friends at Hypebest featured the video we did. Here’s a series of pictures we made.