Editor’s Note: Delving into the archives of pop culture history, “Remember When?” is a new series offering a nostalgic look at the celebrity outfits that defined their era.
CNN
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Remember when Kate Moss wore wellies (that’s rain boots for those outside the UK) to Glastonbury?
As the historic festival returns once again to Worthy Farm, we take a look back at one of its most memorable fashion moments. After all, no British summer would be complete without a large amount of mud.
And no one conquered it like Moss.
Nineteen years ago, Britain’s most famous supermodel broke fashion’s fourth wall and joined mortals in their muddy misery. Sure, she probably spent the weekend camping in the festival’s VIP area. But a dirty field is the best way to level England – and on those brief, well-photographed strolls around Glastonbury Gardens, cigarette in hand, she was just like us.
Until his choice of practical footwear transformed festival fashion and helped save a heritage boot maker from the brink of obsolescence.
It was the summer of 2005 and Moss was at the height of his fame. Media interest in his festival presence was amplified by a fixation on his budding affair with Pete Doherty. But while the Libertines frontman seemed more comfortable in these circumstances, it was Moss who attracted the attention.
Teamed with a pair of classic black Hunter wellies, a vest, short shorts and a studded belt (and later a glittering tunic), the model was the epitome of understated glamour. Below the knee, her look was interchangeable with that of a Somerset pig farmer. But above, she could easily have stepped out of a Chelsea mansion and into a well-placed paparazzi ambush.
The images quickly went viral (or at least as viral as they could get in the pre-social media era). The bastion of mid-1990s “heroin chic” became the face of its slightly older, more respectable cousin: mid-2000s festival chic.
Wellies have thus earned their place in the popular imagination. No longer reserved for farmers, they have become a rubbery status symbol, better paired with trilby hats, ties, and other questionable accessories of the 2000s. These once-practical boots have morphed into a bourgeois badge of honor indicating that the wearer is willing to “rough it” while still looking fabulous (the drugged-out rock star boyfriend remains an optional element of the look).
Suddenly, festival wear had become a clothing category in its own right, more than just a collection of items that people didn’t mind ruining. But an even more profound transformation was underway: that of the struggling Hunter Boot Limited brand.
The Scottish brand was at its peak during both world wars, when it produced huge quantities of waterproof boots for the front lines. But never before in the company’s 149-year history have its practical footwear been so sought after. While the power of the Moss effect should not be overestimated (his support failed to prevent the bootmaker from going into administration in 2006), it helped spark a remarkable turnaround in the company.
In 2007, the company changed hands and saw an 85% increase in sales over the previous year. It has since become a festival staple, producing rainwear, outerwear and boots in all sorts of colours and styles.
Once prized for keeping gangrene at bay in the trenches, Hunter has made the ultimate 21st-century transformation to become the rainy-day boot for celebrities from Rita Ora to Rihanna, Cara Delevingne to Alexa Chung.
And to think that all Kate wanted was a pair of warm, dry feet.
cnn
