It began as a daring thought from an intrepid sneakerhead on Instagram: a couple of Salomon S/Lab XT-6 footwear dressed in a extraordinary rubber outer layer. In keeping with the selection of flame emojis within the feedback phase, it sort of feels to be a success. Now not lengthy after the unique put up, the preferred streetwear account Hidden reposted the image. Quickly, it jumped platforms to TikTok, the place the almighty set of rules did the remainder. A number of customers started posting all forms of footwear dressed in the rubber wrap, from Nikes and New Balances the entire option to sneakers from Yeezy and Rick Owens. One video of a wrapped pair of Nike Dunks raked in over two million perspectives. So, what precisely was once this factor?
It is the Ugg Boot Guard, a utilitarian galosh fabricated from silicone rubber supposed to wrap snugly round your favourite pair of fleecy boots. It additionally appears, slowly however certainly, to be profitable over adventurous sneakerheads.
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Designed for use with Ugg’s flagship fuzzy boots, which might be famously now not designed for rain, the Boot Guard is available in a number of colours. There are some louder sunglasses to choose between—taffy crimson, canary yellow, icy child blue—however the sneakerhead-approved fare appears to be the earthy chestnut or the not-fully-opaque black. And it seems you’ll throw the guard on no matter shoe you please. The sensible attraction right here is smart. Sneaker fans have lengthy long past to excessive lengths to stay their kicks having a look box-fresh: top class cleaners, coverage sprays, particular wipes, you identify it. However one will get the sense sneakerheads are purchasing those for taste moderately than serve as. As a result of rubberized outdoorsy shoes has been trending for a while now, and unexpectedly the Ugg guard items a option to merge the glance with no matter footwear you occur to have at hand.
The posh space Bottega Veneta’s shoes program has put rubber entrance and heart for a couple of seasons now: the tastemaker-approved Puddle boot and sandal, the Rubber Flash clog. You can additionally to find identical fare at Prada and Balenciaga, particularly Demna’s ultra-statement Trooper Rubber Boot. After which there is the Concern of God California mule, a success from a label that has lengthy embraced earthy and desaturated hues. The rubber boot backside, too, is a longtime motif now noticed in all corners of the boot spectrum: simply take a look at the Prada Monolith boots or the mid-market Diemme Balbi Basso boot, and even and the extra inexpensive heritage vintage, L.L. Bean’s Duck Boot. The theory of rubber-as-design is now a relentless in recent menswear collections.
At $50 a pop, the Ugg Boot Guard appears like a very simple option to boot-ify your favourite pair of footwear, giving them a touch of the fabric now observed on dressmaker shoes. So far, just a handful of sneakerheads have attempted the sneaker-and-guard glance, but when the Instagram Discover web page and TikTok set of rules have taught us the rest, it is that the place one bold individual is going, others might quickly practice. But even so, having some weatherproof shoe guards for your closet heading into the slush and snow seasons is probably not the worst factor.