Viberg x Division Road Collaborations
This week, we take a trip back in time to when Viberg arrived on the heritage footwear scene looking to elevate their tradition and cross over into luxury fashion with a unique design and value proposition. Adapting without compromising, Brett Viberg started to re-work old patterns and develop new archetypes for the Japanese market along with collaborating with collectors and select cult brands to define a fresh direction for this legacy maker. The Scout and Service Boot rose to the top and remain signature Viberg styles over a decade later. Inspiring many faux-berg patterns and even entire copycat brands, these two boot styles are synonymous with Viberg and have continued to progress in terms of build, refinement, and quality with timeless designs that are crafted for longevity.
Black Unicorn Scout Boot
In times of uncertainty, it’s good to go back to our roots as there can be no better thing than a stalwart staple that presents endless utility and has a distinctiveness that makes us excited to wear it day in, day out. Hence, we bring you the Service + Scout Unicorn Pack that utilizes an illusive leather paired with classic specifications to create two core collectables. The rarely seen and regularly revered Unicorn leather is an aniline dyed Scandinavian Elk hide tanned by the storied Charles F. Stead, known for producing some of the finest wild animal leathers in the world. In this vegetable re-tannage, the remarkable character of these hides is revealed by subtly sanding the grain for a nubuck finish, allowing the impregnated oils to come to the surface for exceptional pull-up qualities. The recipe includes a subtle wax coating in the tanning process to yield a rich and distinct matte finish to provide an unmatched durability and flexibility.
Ebony Unicorn Service Boot
The Unicorn leather, treasured for its natural feel, remarkable texture, and distinct nature is fully exemplified in these two signature Viberg styles with a specific formula proved through the past in trademark specifications that elevate tradition with a modern sensibility. Both boots come on the popular 2030 Last with its dutiful dress officer legacy, a natural leather midsole, and Viberg’s stitchdown construction with corresponding details to each design. The Scout Boot exudes a street-meets-industrial sensibility by taking this coal-colored Black Unicorn leather with a matte finish to the next level with Dull Nickel Eyelets on the aggressive North American made Vibram 4014 Christy Sole. The Service Boot is perfect for the smart casual aesthetic in a chocolate brown with Ebony Elk grain features, complemented with a Brogue Cap Toe, Antique Brass Eyelets, and a British made Dainite Sole for low profiled, wet and dry traction.
Division Road's Literature for Liberty
As such, on this Juneteenth we’ve established a program called Literature for Liberty, where we will present signature books on our own shelves relevant to the current issues, with all proceeds directed toward charities related to the subject matter contained within. We are waiting for our bulk orders of these texts to arrive so we can release and properly launch this program, but we secured enough copies to present two of our favorite seminal texts, both of which deal with race and class inequality from two completely different perspectives. These texts are complementary offerings from the Division Road Library for the next 50 orders above $100. We’re launching this program with the want-it-or-not distribution of A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn, which should be used as a textbook in schools if we wanted our citizenry to actually be informed and understand our own history, and Soul on Ice by Eldridge Cleaver, which is a genuine and introspective Black voice of anger in a White-ruled system, heralded as having had a tremendous impact on the intellectual class, civil rights movement, and our last period of major social unrest.
We are actual students of these matters, and it’s not up for debate that Black Americans have been subjugated through a troubling history and relationship with this country and, in modern times, the economic and legal framework remains oppressive. Racial history in and outside of this country is complex, as will be any progress on this matter as there is no simple or broad solution to centuries of persecution and the lasting effects therein. Supremacy over citizens is furthered by social and class imbalances through political and financial systems that at their foundation are tilted, and have been constantly manipulated to serve an elite class. The most effective tools used against us are those that divide us, and that matrix of control has become ever weaponized, expanding, and invasive.
The focal point contained within the non-fiction works we’re presenting is how power functions through oppression. The purpose of power is to exert influence and insulate from consequence. One of the main tools of power is segregation and segmentation. Originally much more overt, powers that divide us today are far more sophisticated and covert. Look down the rabbit hole, and one thing you will find is a world of illusion designed to keep us fighting amongst ourselves. To the ruling elite and political class there is no such thing as party, just power. However, they create, foster, and radicalize these constructs by manipulating us to pick sides: Red-Blue, Right-Left, Conservative-Liberal, Republican-Democrat, White-Black, and so on. This divisive strategy is engineered to promote hate, and has many ready to go to war with each other based on delusive ideologies that weren’t individually conceived, but rather constructed to suit what we believe our sociopolitical brand says about us.
Division Road has one vision: a learned civil society that evolves through effective, constructive change. This can only be achieved through exhaustive study and reasoned reflection, followed by comprehensive dialogue and action. These are not boiler plate books; we’re not a typical retailer and we know that our community and clientele is not simple-minded. These volumes have been selected because they are poignant, thought provoking, controversial, and hopefully enlightening. We think one of the things lacking in today’s discourse is the allowance of consideration for anything outside of accepted social constructs, which is fostered by one of the most dangerous trends in the United States: censorship of thought which we liken to book burning of the mind. This is the moment to listen, read, learn, educate, discuss, analyze and then act accordingly; and, whether you like these books or not, in the immortal words of Good Will Hunting, the right books are “Whatever blows your hair back.” If you have read these texts we’re not surprised, perhaps revisit and pay them forward. If you haven’t read them, we only aim to serve as an illuminating and informative medium with our Literature for Liberty.
So, that's our address. We've made ourselves clear. Moving forward, we'll let our Literature for Liberty program do the talking. We look forward to hearing your thoughts, having more conversations, and figuring this out together. In conclusion, we are all either part of the problem or part of the solution and we have to start with books, because knowledge is power.
