FOOTWEAR FOCUS ROAD TEST Outdoor Footwear road test


Aigle Parcour Vario Joan Collet gives history the boot!


I


was never good at history at school. I didn’t really see the point of learning what had happened years and years ago. But, of course, as you get older the


importance of the lessons that we have not learned from history become all the more apparent.


However, I do like irony. And I found it ironical


wearing a pair of “Wellington boots” named after the Duke of Wellington who, in 1815, gave Napoleon the boot at Waterloo. Here I was wearing a pair of Wellington boots that had been made by what most people think is a French company, Aigle.


While people think of Aigle as essentially


French, the company was started by an American who located the business in France, and is today owned by the Swiss.


It was another delicious irony that I received


the boots to trial when I was at the Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials.


Blenheim in Oxfordshire was given by the Duke


of Marlborough for thrashing the French at Blindheim (yes, not Blenheim) in 1704. But Blenheim Palace is probably best known for a descendent of the Duke, who was born there: Sir Winston Churchill (he was of course not a Sir when he was born) who became Britain’s World War II leader. And, to bring the story full circle his mother was American.


I was working at Blenheim for Townfields


Saddlers who sell all manner of riding gear from saddles and stirrups to bits and boots to the assembled horsey set come to watch the dressage, show jumping and cross country.


The Aigle Parcour Vario boots I had been given


to test, seemed appropriate for the show (and not just for historical reasons) but because I knew there would be a lot of standing around, a lot of humping horse wear and clothing from the storage van to the marquee where it is sold.


I also knew that these events can be wet and muddy (think Glastonbury) and, despite being at the end of summer can turn out quite cold. Well as luck would have it this year’s Blenheim was neither wet nor cold – perhaps I have a pair of lucky boots! But there was the customary standing around and traipsing about the course.


If you go for a country walk or to any event


where Wellington boots are likely to be part of the dress code, you invariably spend more time than you anticipated walking or standing around. That’s why the job I had was a perfect test for the boots.


Aigle use a slogan on their website: “for


comfort on a long day.” Well I spent five long days in the boots! And I have to say that they were as comfortable on the last day as they were on the first. Some wellies are quite rigid but these have very supple and flexible rubber around the legs so there is no chaffing around the rim as I have found with a pair of good, old fashioned farmer’s wellies.


A few years ago wellies became a fashion


statement for the country set – the Barbour thorn proof jacket and green wellies were essential accoutrements to the Range Rover and black Labradors when Sebastian and Victoria took their children Fiona and Justin from Chelsea to Wiltshire for the weekend. The fashion has become a parody of itself now with wellies in pink, purple and zebra and leopard skin.


The Aigle Parcour boots I tested arrived in a


discreet brown – I had never thought there were different types of brown but this brown was quite classy – as I say, discreetly so.


Details: Parcour Vario • Trade price: £50 • RRP: £100


Aigle International UK Ltd Tel: +44 (0)1608 813860 uksales@aigle.com www.aigle.com


Aigle Established in 1853, Aigle roots are deep in


nature: the earth, the sea and all around. It has spent the last 150 years developing this ethos, mixing style and functionality, to create collections designed to protect against the elements. With all these years of know-how and expertise behind it, Aigle has become the quintessential French outdoor lifestyle brand, synonymous for its quality outerwear. Aigle now has 124 shops around the globe (66 in France, 44 in Asia and 17 across Europe). Since arriving in the UK, it has within a short timeframe made a real impact on the outdoor market, being stocked in all the major country sports and outer wear retailers.


Rubber Boots


Key to Aigle’s success has been the popularity of its handmade rubber boots made at its factory in Chatellerault, France. From preparation through to finishing, each stage takes place under the watchful eye of specialists. Firstly, the natural rubber mix endows the boots with all of their characteristics (supple, waterproof, sturdy and comfortable). Then the parts are assembled by hand on an aluminum last. The third stage in the process involves vulcanisation of the boots in an autoclave at 140 degrees to give them their definitive shape. Finally each boot is carefully inspected to ensure a high performance; high-quality product is obtained.


Ranges include the The Parcour, the best


selling range of country sports boots in Europe. These were the first rubber footwear to combine the comfort of walking boots and a superb fit for tireless walking with all the advantages and features of a traditional country sports boot.


22 • FOOTWEAR TODAY • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2011 Call for Nominations – Don’t forget to nominate by 30th November


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