Timberland Boots

The Iconic “Timbs”

Blue-collar workers were the boots’ original target market, and the brand saw a huge first wave of success that gave way to their rebranding. By 1985, Timberland had sold over 1 million pairs. By the early ’90s, a new crowd had adopted the wheat-toned silhouette as their own – hip-hop artists – and the cultural image of the boot as we know it was born. 

The highly exalted waterproof boots became Timberland’s symbol, largely because it became a symbol of hip-hop culture, too. As big-name artists added the boots to their wardrobe, the brand’s growth began to burst at the seams. The styles reached past the hip-hop scene with cultural icons like athletes and actors donning the classic boot, and these endorsements helped to re-fuel the brand’s explosive growth.

Today, a new generation of icons can be heard referring to them as “Timbs,” affirming the boots as an icon and cementing their place in the sneaker world for decades to come.