Wieden+Kennedy New York Helps Red Wing Shoes Give the Boot to Fast Fashion

In the era of the disposable, Red Wing Shoes is making a stand for longevity. The brand’s newest campaign out of Wieden+Kennedy New York encourages its audience to hand their Red Wings down to someone special to them. As part of the initiative, named ‘Will Your Wings’, Red Wing Shoes has created a sewn-in ‘will’ for Heritage boot wearers.

To bring the idea to life, a trio of films directed by Greg Hunt set out to weave the true stories of connection between today’s owners of Red Wing Shoes and the next generation. It’s an evocative idea, given an increasingly timeless feel through a collaboration with Steve McQueen’s estate for the manifesto film. Across the two other films, we see stories of heritage and legacy; in one case a mother passing her shoes along to her daughter, and in the other a real-life Californian farrier bestowing his craft, and his shoes, on to his young neighbour. 

The films make use of old photographs, polaroids, and even a Super 8 camera to create a tactile and vintage vibe. To find out more about how it all came together - and why this story of legacy and longevity was one Red Wing wanted to tell - LBB’s Adam Bennett spoke with W+K New York’s art director Adeline Dechaud and copywriter Philip Le Brun, as well as Red Wing Shoes’ head of brand and creative, Aaron Seymour-Anderson.

LBB> Adeline and Philip, can you tell us more about how you arrived at the central idea behind ‘Will Your Wings’, and how it connects to the brand more broadly?


Adeline and Philip> The thing we kept gravitating towards in the creative brief was craft. These boots are simply very well made. Painstakingly so (as we saw firsthand on their factory tour). And for our audience, craft means not following trends but seeking quality. So, we explored a number of ideas to find the strongest expression of this truth. Ultimately, it came down to this: if something’s made well, it’s built to last - beyond your use and even beyond your lifetime. We spoke to someone in the agency who had inherited their dad’s boots, which got us chatting to more people and trawling the Red Wing archives and Reddit threads. We found plenty of instances of boots being handed down. So our idea was to bring this existing behaviour into the spotlight through real personal stories and actually facilitate it through the ‘Will Your Wings’ patches in boots.

LBB> And Aaron, why was this story (about passing your Wings onto someone important in your life) one that you wanted to tell? 

Aaron> This effort is inspired by the countless letters we’ve received over the years from our beloved customers sharing stories of Red Wings being passed down over decades. That’s what ‘Will Your Wings’ is about - things that endure, timeless style, and celebrating the personal stories created with each pair of Red Wing boots. In all, we wanted to tell this story to honour those who wear our boots and create lasting memories with them.

LBB> Did you feel like you’re positioning Red Wing against a disposable culture - and if so, why did you think this was a message that would resonate strongly with people in 2024?

Adeline and Philip> We’re living in a paradoxical moment in time. Instantaneous online orders and flash sales from fast fashion brands have many of us in a chokehold. With disposable trends, convenience often compromises quality, with some items only being worn a handful of times before ending up in landfill. Conversely, thrifting and secondhand clothing apps like Vinted or Depop have never been so popular, and people are up-cycling or repairing their stuff rather than throwing it away. So, rather than shaming people for their buying habits, we wanted our messaging to ride this groundswell and positively nudge people seeking quality and opting to be more mindful when it comes to their wardrobe.

Aaron> There’s no question we live in a disposable culture; we’ve all seen the stats. For example, people in the US alone throw out more than 34 billion pounds of used textiles each year - that’s more than 100 pounds per person each year. That’s a real problem. Since its inception in 1905, Red Wing has stood for durability, timelessness, and footwear that endures. Those values have always been important to us - and always will be. ‘Will Your Wings’ is just another example of that. 

LBB> And what made Steve McQueen’s Heritage boots the ideal case study through which to amplify this message around longevity?

Adeline and Philip> Steve McQueen wasn’t just a loyal Red Wing wearer, he was the epitome of timeless style and leaving behind a legacy doing things his own way – not only to his family, but to the world. So working with his estate on this project was a bit of a no-brainer. His racing number, 278, became emblematic of his fearless approach to life. So we were happy to see that legacy live on by working with Red Wing to create the signature boot bearing his iconic number.

LBB> Why were Yuki and Brelen’s stories the right ones to pair with the campaign?

Adeline and Philip> We looked through a ton of stories for this project. Our team trawled through hundreds of submissions in the Red Wing archives, we scrubbed social media, and reached out to everyone who’s ever had so much of a sniff of a Red Wing boot. But we knew when we came across Brelen and Yuki, they were our characters. 

Not only were they interesting and both genuine Red Wing fans, but they had people in their lives to whom they wanted to pass their boots on. From our first conversation with Yuki, we were drawn to her infectiously bubbly personality mixed with her steely determination to give her daughter every chance in life as a hardworking single mum. There was a sense of her boots being symbolic of her zest for life and her daughter Shino stepping into them, being about far more than simply fashion. 

Brelen equally oozed timeless style but also real substance; an actual horseshoer in 2024! He genuinely befriended his younger neighbour, and became his mentor. Brelen’s kindness was the easiest thing to capture on film. He welcomed us into his home with pastries, and suggested he teach Max to drive stick shift on camera. Sure, he handed his beloved boots down to his friend Max. But in those boots were years of craft, knowledge, and his refreshing view of the world.

LBB> What was the most challenging part of putting these ads together, and how did you overcome it?

Adeline and Philip> The most challenging part of this process was carving out the right voice for Red Wing. At its very core, this idea of passing things down could stray too dark and morbid… or worse, drift into saccharine. So tone was everything. 

We wanted Red Wing to have a strong point of view. So it came down to honing the words of the script, music, voiceover and the balance within our other films. We also had to navigate Red Wing being timeless, but we didn't want it to feel old - which can be tricky when you’re using lots of archival footage. So we worked to create a visual world and editing style that hopefully kept it feeling fresh and dynamic.

LBB> And finally, Aaron, did you have a vision for this campaign at the outset of the project - and if so, how closely does it align with the finished ad? 

Aaron> We worked closely with our very talented partners and friends at W+K New York on this project. We shared a collective ambition and vision from the jump - and that has been delivered on. Importantly, this effort isn’t about just making an 'ad' - it’s about creating an action that celebrates our audiences, gives them something tactile to engage with, and delivers on Red Wing’s values.