Steve Jobs favourite shoe (via Gwar izm)
We know were late on this one, but we couldnt pass up the opportunity of re-blogging this brilliant article by the wonderful Gary Warnett aka @gwarizm, looking at the footwear of choice (Cheap Timberland Boots) of one in the planets most influential characters, the late and fantastic Steve Jobs, co-foundre in the little known Apple brand.
We could try and do Garys words justice and re-word and possibly hash up what is one with the most genuine and appropriate tributes towards the man who revolutionised how people buy and listen to music, communicate with each other and connect and purchase technology. So instead, well give you a snippet of the post (full article here) and a few of the pics that Gary took whilst visiting the factory where the famous shoes are made, Flimby.
For all the aesthete tendencies and focus on curves, its curious that Steve would opt for whats arguably 1 of the ugliest shoes in the NB armoury. Ive got a lot of love for the Timberland Boots, but its the quality, the comfort of ABZORB and the shoes performance credibility rather than slick looks that make it appeal to me. The USA panel is an awkward detail on a busy upper. Then it all makes sense. Steve had plenty on his mind and he didnt need his shoes to cause any issues the New Balance 991 is undisputedly trustworthy. Geniuses dont want to deal with nonsense.
Soon after taking some pictures with the Timberland Boots Online production line within the UK factory in Flimby earlier this year, my appreciation for the shoe increased significantly. I wasnt sure where they should go, but it made sense to up them here in their entirety. Im sure there are some like minded oddballs thinking differently wholl enjoy geeking out over this kind of imagery. That afternoon we only caught the navy variation getting put together but we saw the preparation for the greys that Steve favoured. Whether the big man preferred a Made in England or Made within the USA variant remains a mystery, but its lengthy perplexed me that even UK-made versions of the Timberland Boots still have the USA text on them. Its unlikely that Apple would ever let anybody shoot inside their factories either, but that transparency is what gives Timberland Boots its own rabid audience 1 unlikely to switch brand allegiance and willing to cyber beef with critics too. Brand loyaltys a powerful thing.