A master tanner by the name of Andy Rhein wearing a pair of boots made of leather he cured in an ancient way, by burying a skin. Skins of steers on hangers moving across a wet floor. For the most part, it is as you'd imagine it. I took a tour of the factory and the tannery. I believed it was a betrayal of that working man in Salt Lake City.Īnd then in September I was driving up the edge of the Mississippi and came across the pretty town of Red Wing, Minnesota, itself. Red Wings are already available through shops such as American Classics in Covent Garden, and there is talk of a dedicated London store. The company set up a 'heritage' division, which is enormous in Asia and growing in Europe. In the years since I first discovered Red Wings, they have become fashionable – and my, how men hate that. In truth my loyalty had finally been waning. Now, looking down the line of the Red Wings I still own, I see they contain memories – some happy (walking through thick, fresh snow in London) and some painful (the pair I'm holding were on my feet when I crashed a glider and broke my back). I swore that day that while people might laugh at me for many things in the years to come, it wouldn't be because of my boots. The Timberlands I had bought for the job had collapsed in the 40C heat, the glue holding the soles melting. Not long before buying that first pair of Red Wings, I had been working as an assistant to a geologist in the Australian desert. All it takes is for someone to say something nice to a teenager about a T-shirt he's wearing and that boy will be wearing a similar T-shirt when he's 70.' We're lazier, too, less prone to experimentation. The editor of Mr Porter, Jeremy Langmead, stands against this sort of thing (and claims to be constant only to his beard).

In an interview for the online retail site Mr Porter, Nighy responded to the question whether this is limiting by answering: 'I've selected the things that please me.' Architect Richard Rogers loves bright Nehru shirts. Tom Wolfe wouldn't be without his white suit.

David Attenborough has his blue shirts – originally used so his shows would have continuity, but which now are a constant in almost every sighting of him. Men have a tendency, once we've found a thing we like, to stick to it. Thanks to that man in Salt Lake City, I developed a lifelong affection for the brand he was selling, Red Wing.

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