Filip Arickx, cofounder of Belgian fashion label A.F. Vandevorst, confessed on Wednesday that he hadn’t heard of the viral hashtag BootsOnlySummer.
Meanwhile, he certainly had one.
Five years after shuttering the brand he cofounded with his partner An Vandevorst, he decided to relaunch its chunky X010 boot style, which was nearly an instant hit when it debuted in 2000, and remained a perennial bestseller until the brand shuttered in 2020, selling up to 3,000 units per season.
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But what was initially conceived as a one-shot project for diehard fans of the X010 quickly snowballed into a return to wholesaling, with about 20 specialty stores signing up — some reordering even before the first shipments, now under way.
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“We wanted to create a boot that was in between a horse-riding boot and a biker boot, but with a simplicity and purity in the design,” Arickx said over Teams when asked about the impetus for the unadorned style. “When a woman wears it, she feels strong. She wears it with pride.”
As word trickled out on social media about an imminent X010 comeback, Arickx heard from consumers and stores that had hoarded the boots in anticipation of the brand’s closure; from cobblers who expressed great satisfaction refurbishing the model and hailed its return; and from women who had proudly handed down their boots to their daughters, who fervently embraced them for music festivals.
Asked to account for the style’s enduring appeal, Arickx attributes it to the boot’s versatility with pants, dresses or skirts; its sturdy make and comfortable heel height; and the renewed popularity of leather footwear as the sneaker craze continues to wane.
For the relaunch, Arickx reconnected with the same family-owned Italian manufacturer that had produced the X010, which sprang into action to source the same heavy vegetable-dyed calfskin and thick leather soles.
While Belgian designers have long been prized for making high-quality garments, Arickx noted that a good number of them proved themselves formidable with footwear, including Dirk Bikkembergs with his era-defining soccer shoes, Ann Demeulemeester with her lace-up ankle boots, and Martin Margiela’s iconic cleft-toe Tabi boots.
The low version of the X010 retails for 890 euros, with the tall ones priced at 950 euros. Arickx said he imposed slimmer-than-usual margins on himself and wholesale partners to keep the style under 1,000 euros.
“We really wanted people to enjoy the boot,” Arickx said. “If we can make people happy with things that we are still proud of and without being attached to seasons or to deadlines, then we can only profit of the joy.”
Among the retailers that signed up for the relaunch are Dover Street Market in Paris, Louise in Antwerp, Stijl in Brussels and No Name Concept store in Tbilisi, according to Arickx.
Since discontinuing their label, Vandevorst has devoted herself to Polimoda in Florence, where she heads the fashion design department, while sidelining as a DJ spinning “seductive electro,” according to Arickx, who does glassblowing and also designs upscale adult toys under the Nightfall brand.