Hunter Boots
Kicking a Boot Brand into Fashionable New Territory
JAQUE takes a British company to New York in high style
How do you merge a brand’s pragmatic roots with its more fashion-forward present? You trust JAQUE.
For over 160 years, Hunter Boots has provided farmers, workers and the general public with a practical, high-performance outdoor boot. Since 1856, this British company has crafted a rubber-made product that can survive harsh winters by providing total water resistance. More recently, its boots have also become fashion statements. So when the brand wanted to make a splash in a true fashion hub, it turned to JAQUE.
To coincide with Fashion Week in New York City, which draws people from all over the world to celebrate the world’s most influential fashion icons, JAQUE designed two Hunter Boots stores: one pop-up, one permanent.
Her pop-up store in Grand Central Station used a misty greenhouse structure to demonstrate the boot’s water-resistance. She employed matte black windowpanes to provide the edgy look the greenhouse needed to make it both unavoidable and irresistible. Then she cleverly drew people inside by dressing store mannequins in brightly colored rain gear, and pairing them with hovering umbrellas.
For the downtown store, JAQUE chose a different but equally effective path. Inspired by the company’s colorful history, she decorated storefront windows with industrial metal and the original Hunter Boots red and black. On the inside, she used exposed industrial pipes to conjure the company’s rich heritage, while also incorporating sharp, protruding structures to draw attention to the products and subconsciously guide customers through the store.
With both inventions, JAQUE took the best of Hunter Boots’ practical past and enriched it with edgy and modern elements that point to a more fashionable future.