Erik Hernandez
Render of the Alpine Classic Boot in black leather with blue laces, silver D-rings and a black and tan lug sole, standing on snow.
Three pencil top-down studies of the toe and lacing side by side, toes pointing down, with variations in eyelet and D-ring placement.
Tech drawings of the boot from the side, back and top, cross sections, sidewalls and the herringbone lug outsole, beside a pair of white boots with red laces.
The black Alpine Classic Boot from the side, with contrast stitching, blue laces and a tan sole edge.
The black boot turned over to show the tan lug outsole with a K-Swiss shield.
Front views of two pairs side by side, white with red laces and black with blue laces.
Close-up of the black boot's heel, white contrast stitching over smooth leather, the molded K-Swiss logo on the black sidewall and a cream lug sole.
Two photoshoot images, white Alpine Classic Boots with red laces up on the dashboard of a camper van and of a truck.
A man stepping out of a camper van door and a man sitting in a loft window, both wearing the white boots with red laces.

Brief

Bring the K-Swiss Classic into winter. The boot needed to read as a K-Swiss from across the room while taking on the hardware and sole of a classic alpine hiker.

Process

Sketches kept the Classic’s five stripes and toe shape and built the boot around them, testing collar pads, straps and perforations before settling on a padded collar with speed-lacing D-rings up the throat. The cupsole picked up a herringbone lug pattern and a stitched welt, and the boot was sampled in black and white leathers with contrast laces, then shot for the Q4 2011 Courtstyle campaign.