Red Wing Creates a ‘Will’ For Boots to Fight Fast Fashion

An estimated 11.3 million tons of clothes and shoes wind up in U.S. landfills each year from fashion waste. Legacy footwear brand Red Wing Shoes fights against fast fashion in a campaign encouraging people to pass their boots down through generations.

With agency Wieden+Kennedy New York, Red Wing has created a sewn-in ‘will’ for Heritage boot wearers to hand down their shoes as heirlooms. The campaign highlights the long-lasting durability of the footwear.

A manifesto film for “Will Your Wings” positions the handcrafted boots as timeless, a style that can be worn for decades rather than seasons.

It suggests that the boots are not only made to last but also to be handed down, with tags that can be stitched into boot tongues to show who the shoes were originally worn by and who they were left to. A 30-second spot shows the will being stitched in.

A pair of additional films share individual stories of the boots being passed down. A horseshoer gives his Red Wings to his mentee and hopes he’ll eventually be able to share the shoes and his experiences with someone else. Meanwhile, a single mother living outside Tokyo talks about her daughter growing up and how she passed on her boots along with a love of adventure.

The campaign was inspired by letters Red Wing has received over the decades from customers who have passed down their boots.

Red Wing operates a repair shop in Minnesota that resoles and reconditions about 40,000 boots each year, keeping them out of landfills. Consumers will be able to pick up the wills at select stores around the world, some of which will host events where the tags will be sewn in on site.

“This effort isn’t about just making an ad — it’s about creating an action that celebrates our audiences, gives them something tactile to engage with, and delivers on Red Wing’s values,” Red Wing head of brand and creative Aaron Seymour-Anderson told ADWEEK.

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