In 1973, Massachusetts bootmaker Nathan Swartz injection-moulded a waterproof leather boot for New England construction sites and forestry crews. Nobody involved in the making of that Timberland eight-inch boot (the classic six-inch would be released three years later) could have predicted that this piece of unglamorous utility would become one of the most quietly influential objects in street style.
It was claimed, in turn, by Milanese paninari, Bronx MCs, Compton rappers and London ravers, each group shaping its meaning to fit their own cultural code.
