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Weston Kay didn’t got down to develop into YouTube well-known, and even now, with near 1,000,000 followers and tens of hundreds of thousands of views, he nonetheless doesn’t notably love being on digicam. What he does care about is well-made boots. And that’s why he spends his days spreading the gospel of Goodyear welts, vegetable-tanned leather-based, and hand-lasting by bandsawing footwear and boots in half to disclose how they’re made.
Raised on a farm in central Utah, Kay grew up round guys for whom workwear is a software like some other, and realized the worth of a great pair of shoes by stints on building and firefighting crews. He was partway by a level in metallurgy (and funding his tuition by promoting plasma) when he hit on the concept that would, half 1,000,000 {dollars} in crowdfunding later, develop into Rose Anvil, a leather-based items model specializing in professional-grade digicam harnesses. When the pandemic stalled the occasion images enterprise (and, by extension, the digicam harness enterprise) Kay wanted a solution to hold issues working, so he minimize a pair of Doc Martens in half, uploaded it to the web, and a YouTube star was born.
After taking pictures practically 1,000 movies and destroying $100,000 value of covetable kicks, from Alden Indys and Clarks Wallabees to Nike Dunks and MSCHF’s notorious Huge Purple Boots, he’s develop into one of many web’s foremost footwear reviewers. With a leatherworker’s eye for high quality, a nostril for advertising spin, and an array of DIY testing gear (the waterproof take a look at entails an aquarium and a rock), he serves his viewers a uncommon glimpse at what goes into making a pair of footwear, and the methods through which manufacturers typically don’t reside as much as their guarantees. Whereas he’s finest recognized for debunking the standard of the worst offenders (you may need to assume twice about shopping for these Gucci Aces), he’s equally vocal about manufacturers that get it proper, notably indie makers like White’s, Nicks, and Goral. We chatted with Kay about his most shocking discoveries, his favourite boot manufacturers, and one of the simplest ways to inform if a pair of footwear is definitely worth the value on the tag.
GQ: What’s the principle factor you hope to get throughout by these movies?
Weston Kay: I feel the worth we offer is all the way down to our blue-collar background and my leatherworking background. It’s a function-first strategy to footwear as an alternative of the sneakerhead hype-culture perspective. It isn’t unhealthy to have a hype tradition—that’s what we’re actively attempting to carry into the high-end footwear world, together with training and holding manufacturers accountable.
What does reducing a boot in half inform you about the way it’s made?
Ever since boots and footwear have been manufactured, individuals have been reducing them in half as a result of it is essentially the most foolproof solution to present the standard. It additionally makes it not possible to cover what you are doing and what you don’t need the patron to know.
Is there a neater solution to inform if a pair of footwear is sweet high quality?
It is powerful as a result of there are such a lot of variables, and types are so good at faking it. Like, you may search for that sew across the toe that tells you it is historically made, and then you definitely minimize it in half they usually simply glued that on. However as a basic rule, when you’re in search of sturdy, high-quality footwear, the extra leather-based, the higher. The extra leather-based they’ve, the dearer it’s to make these boots.
