About

Timberland Inch series

In 1973 shoemaker Nathan Swartz solved an age-old problem: he cast the rubber sole directly onto the leather upper, without a single stitch hole for water to pass through. That first fully waterproof leather work boot was simply called Timberland, and the product grew so much larger than its maker that the whole company took its name from it in 1978. The Inch series is the direct descendant: boots named for their shaft height, with the 6-inch as the undisputed mainstay.

The distinguishing features have hardly changed in fifty years. A padded round collar around the ankle, four-row stitching where panels meet, a heavily lugged sole and the tree logo stamped on the side of the heel. The Timberland 6 inch bundles the standard models; there are also lower and lined variants and the Field Boot, which—with D-rings instead of eyelets and canvas panels among the nubuck—has its own character.

That a work boot from New England became a hip-hop icon is thanks to New York. In the 1990s rappers adopted the boot as a winter uniform, from Wu-Tang Clan to The Notorious B.I.G., and since then “Timbs” is as much street slang as brand name. The boot became proof that functional footwear doesn’t need a fashion upgrade to become fashion.

The collector market picked up on that. Supreme produced patchwork editions of the 6-inch, Ronnie Fieg delivered versions with Gore-Tex and extreme insulation, there were full NBA team editions with padded collars, and even SpongeBob made an appearance. On this page those rarities sit alongside the regular standard model. Anyone looking for the same boots-meet-streetwear movement in a softer form will find the more refined counterpart in the Clarks Wallabee.

On this page you can see which versions of the Timberland Inch series are currently hottest according to the Hypescore, from which price they’re available and at how many shops they are in stock.