From Doja Cat To Your Uncle, Timberland Is Dressing Everyone These Days

When the Louis Vuitton Fall/Winter 2024 menswear show hit the runways in January, there was something unexpected on the feet of several models: a collaboration with Timberland. Although, given that Timberland has enough cultural history to fill a coffee table book, maybe it wasn’t so surprising. As I learned on my recent trip to their headquarters, they’re going deeper into their vast archives for that old-school feeling in 2024, rooted in tradition yet unique to the present day. From the hypebaes looking for their next “Holy Grail” to the craftsmen who rely on comfortable, high-quality workwear, Timberland is covering the breadth of the market with ease, a remarkable feat for a brand that started with a single boot in 1973.

Timberland’s humble yet modern global HQ is situated among pine trees about an hour outside of Boston in southern New Hampshire. Their core team of designers prides itself on their creativity, and the centerpiece of innovation is The Shed, their in-house makers hub that has hosted fashion folk like Humberto Leon and Samuel Ellis of A-Cold-Wall* for design collaborations and free-flowing ideation sessions. Christopher Raeburn, Timberland’s former global creative director, once visited The Shed with a pair of army surplus gloves that the team transformed into a boot prototype, which found its way to the production line and ultimately sold well for the brand.

The spontaneous nature of The Shed allows for “crafted innovation,” as they stated via press release, and as Timberland enters middle age (they just celebrated their 50th birthday), they says they believe the process is as important as the final product. Through the glove boots and boundless experimentation, the creators inspire buzzy collabs and well-timed celebrity placements. Timberland’s custom work keeps them top of mind for the hip-hop artists of our time, from Lil’ Kim in pink Timbs to DMX’s 6-inch red stompers worn at Woodstock ‘99 all the way to Doja Cat’s bespoke Coachella furry boots for her headlining performance in April.

For the customers who couldn’t pick Doja Cat out of a lineup, the heavy-duty workwear speaks for itself. The PRO line is performance wear made for 16-hour days spent on your feet, and the extensive main line ready-to-wear offerings include T-shirts, cozy logo hoodies, and all-weather outerwear, including the 2-in-1 City Parka that might be the most shining example of the worlds of fashion and function meeting at Timberland. Its no-nonsense design can easily slip over your office ‘fit, and the detachable quilted liner has just the right weight for the damp moments (read: hours) spent waiting for the bus to come. Timberland’s magic lies in their commitment to crafting products that meet everyone where they’re at, whether you’re hitting a festival stage or working the factory line. It’s a choose-your-own-adventure experience very few brands can attest to, let alone at the quality level Timberland delivers.