Why Hunter, Britain’s Best Known Wellie, Fell
From Grace
Blaming supply chains, inflation and changing weather
patterns, the Wellington boot brand stumbled toward the brink of extinction
this week. Can it be saved by a new (American) owner?
Elizabeth
Paton
By
Elizabeth Paton
Published
June 24, 2023
Updated
June 25, 2023
For
decades, one fashion accessory was more synonymous with Britain’s most famous
music festival, Glastonbury, than any other: Hunter Wellington boots.
Paparazzi
photographs of the likes of Kate Moss, Cara Delevingne and Alexa Chung wearing
their Hunters in the early aughts propelled what were once functional footwear
favorites of country life into cool style statements with broad global appeal.
To many, Hunter — which held a royal warrant, and was established in Edinburgh
as the North British Rubber Company in 1856 — became a brand as
quintessentially British as afternoon tea, queuing and talking about the
weather.
But this
week, days before this year’s (uncharacteristically sun-soaked) Glastonbury got
underway, Hunter was forced to file for administration, the British equivalent
of bankruptcy, owing creditors about $146 million. Pandemic-related supply
chain problems, Brexit and inflation all played their part. However the company
largely blamed the dry-up in demand to unseasonably warm weather in its largest
market: the United States. Online, however, some customers also aired their
theories on what had gone wrong. Namely, that Hunter’s offshoring of production
to China had led to stumbles in quality control, resulting in split rubber and
sodden toes. Today, prices for the tall rain boots start at around $175.
Similar to
brands like Burberry and Barbour, Hunter capitalized heavily on its British
roots when it sought to shake off a dowdy reputation and reinvent itself as a
21st century fashion powerhouse. Beyond their more recent adoption on the
festival scene, Hunter wellies (as Wellington boots are affectionately known in
Britain) were also a longtime mainstay of both working farmyards and
aristocratic piles, worn by everyone from Princess Diana and Queen Elizabeth to
those cleaning out the stables. For all their ever-increasing colors and
styles, it was that tie to British life that held such considerable appeal to
newer customers from Boston to Beijing.
“In America
there has always been a sizable group of shoppers fueled by Anglophilia and a
fascination with English lifestyle pursuits, particularly those of the upper
classes,” said Daisy Shaw-Ellis, accessories director at Vanity Fair. “People
don’t tend to walk across muddy fields in the drizzle for fun in America, they
just get in their car and drive. But they also love that quintessential English
country aesthetic, and the Hunter Wellington boot is a major symbol of that
here.”
Alasdhair
Willis, who is married to the fashion designer Stella McCartney, served as
Hunter’s creative director between 2013 and 2020, and for a time the brand
showed at London Fashion Week. But competition in the premium rubber boot
business also grew stiffer, with niche brands like Le Chameau and Aigle as well
as major fashion players like Prada and Balenciaga gaining ground as the latest
social signifier to stomp in for those in the know. And when the United States
had some of its warmest and driest winters on record in recent years, sales
tumbled dramatically.
That said,
Hunter now looks to be stepping toward a lifeline and a possible next chapter.
A current statement on the company website, accompanied by the signature red
white and black logo, reads: “We’re creating a new experience for you. Sign up
below to be notified when we launch!”
Hunter’s
intellectual property was sold to Authentic Brands Group and announced earlier
this month. An American company, Authentic Brands also owns the rights to other
once-beleaguered household-name brands like Brooks Brothers in the United
States and Ted Baker in Britain in order to license them out to partners. Now,
it believes it can breathe fresh life into Hunter.
“Our
business is built on the premise that there are amazing brands that mean a lot
to people that have been operating on inefficient or broken models for years,
and Hunter falls into that camp,” said Authentic’s chief marketing officer and
president, Nick Woodhouse. “But whatever country you are in, Hunter is the
first name you think of when it comes to the Wellington boot, and that is so
powerful. It is intrinsically and whimsically British, and we think exporting
that around the world still has huge, untapped value.”
An American
partner, Marc Fisher, and European partner, the Batra group, have already been
chosen to design and develop footwear and run wholesale and e-commerce
operations in those territories. But if Hunter is no longer owned and based in
Britain, can it retain authentic meaning and value in its story?
“Hunter is
so close to the hearts of so many people and has so many positive associations,
from Glastonbury to the late Queen,” Mr. Woodhouse said. “But with all due
respect, sometimes Britishness is better done outside Britain. We are not
running away from Britain, and we have a big office in London. We are getting
ready to bring Hunter, and ideas of what it means to be British, to a whole new
group of consumers.”
Elizabeth
Paton
Elizabeth
Paton is a reporter for the Styles section, covering the fashion and luxury
sectors in Europe. Before joining The Times in 2015, she was a reporter at the
Financial Times both in London and New York. More about Elizabeth Paton
Made in China?? screw 'em
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