Red Wing Heritage Launches "Will Your Wings" Campaign to Sew Tiny Wills into Boots
In a world dominated by disposable fast fashion trends, Red Wing Heritage is working to encourage customers to keep their boots for years to come, to be passed down to the next generation of wearers later, by offering a small will that can be sewn onto the tongue of the boot.
As part of the brand’s “Will Your Wings” campaign, which launches on October 2, a small will with “Worn By” and “Leave To” fields can be sewn onto the tongue of a customer’s boot, serving as a space to designate who will be the next inheritor of this trusty shoe.
Customers will receive a free Will Your Wings tag with any purchase in-store or online. Global flagship stores in Tokyo, Paris and Red Wing, Minnesota, as well as select retail stores around the world including Philadelphia, Austin and Toronto, will also host sewing sessions where customers can have their Will Your Wings tag sewn live by a store associate.
“This is what Will Your Wings is all about,” the company said. “Cherish heirlooms, give quality products the longest possible lifespan, and celebrate the personal stories and years of artistry that go into every pair of Red Wing boots.”
Similar to the company’s Out of Fashion campaign, Red Wing’s Will Your Wings campaign celebrates a commitment to high-quality, handcrafted products that are built to last and get better the more they’re worn. As part of this commitment, Red Wing’s Minnesota-based repair shop refurbishes, resoles, and repairs up to 40,000 pairs of boots each year, ultimately saving 54 tons of waste from landfills.
Red Wing shares that over the years, some customers have shared stories about their 50-plus-year-old boots, and some have even “willingly sent their Wings” back to the company to be stored in its archives after years of love and wear.
The company’s statement on the campaign says the average American throws away 81.5 pounds of clothing and shoes each year, which equates to 11.3 million tons of textile waste thrown away nationwide each year.