A few festival seasons ago, everyone suddenly seemed to have an Aiglentine. The chunky rain boot got a fashion upgrade with its distinctive strap and, more importantly, colours that made it feel like something you actually wanted to style rather than something you reluctantly put on when it rained.
Now AIGLE is expanding that idea with LIFEPROOF.
The new collection is less about one festival-famous boot and more about where an AIGLE shoe actually belongs today. The answer seems to be: pretty much anywhere.
LIFEPROOF comes with four very different takes on the AIGLE shoe.
First, there’s FLOWLITE, which is probably the easiest one to imagine in the city. It has the chunky, outdoorsy attitude of a hiking shoe without looking like you’re about to disappear into the Alps. It’s made for that increasingly blurry space between commuting, weekend trips and actual outdoor plans.
Then AIGLE goes back into its own wardrobe. TENERE ICON brings back a hiking style first introduced in 1990, updated for FW26 but still keeping the shape that made the original recognisable. It’s the kind of archive revival that makes sense right now, when old technical pieces are suddenly getting the same attention as vintage trainers.
For when the weather gets serious, there’s TENERE GTX. The nubuck version comes with GORE-TEX and a DURACOMP sole, so yes, this one is actually prepared for rain, mud and whatever else you might encounter once your weekend plans leave the pavement.
And then there’s TREK, the one that looks like it actually means business. With GORE-TEX and a Vibram sole, it’s designed for proper hiking and more demanding terrain rather than just giving you the I could go hiking aesthetic while walking around Shoreditch.
But who exactly is AIGLE dressing now?
The traditional AIGLE customer is easy to imagine: farmers, outdoor workers, weekend hikers, campers and anyone who actually needs a pair of boots to survive mud rather than just look good in it.
But LIFEPROOF seems to be talking to another customer too: the urban fashion crowd that has spent the last few years turning rain boots, hiking shoes and technical outerwear into everyday fashion.
Basically, someone who wants one pair of shoes that can survive a muddy weekend, a rainy commute and whatever the weather decides to do on Tuesday.
AIGLE isn’t exactly the first name that comes to mind when you think of fashion footwear. Its history is much more practical: rubber boots, rain, farms, hiking and getting properly muddy.
But fashion has spent the last few years making a fetish out of exactly those things. GORE-TEX became sexy. Hiking shoes became streetwear. Salomon became a fashion-week regular. Suddenly, looking like you were about to climb a mountain became completely acceptable even if you were just going to Soho.
AIGLE has been sitting on this outdoor heritage since 1853. Now LIFEPROOF is trying to make that heritage work for a customer who might spend Saturday in the countryside and Monday walking through the city.
The brand is even opening its archives for the launch, bringing out posters, catalogues and magazine appearances from 1974 to 2020. It’s basically showing the receipts for a history that fashion is only recently learning to appreciate.
You can take AIGLE out of the countryside, but you can’t take the countryside out of AIGLE.