Bikes and Boots
Australia’s iconic boot maker, R.M.Williams has teamed up with Paris-based custom garage, Blitz Motorcycles to create an exclusive custom motorcycle and footwear collection
R.M.Williams and Biltz Motorcycles have handcrafted a bespoke scrambler which launched at world-renowned department store Harrods on 29th September, 2017. The collaborative project seeks to celebrate craftsmanship and R.M.Williams’ passion for hand-tooled leathers while referencing the Australian drovers who utilise motorcycles to heard cattle over the vast landscapes of the Australian outback.
Many of the original drover motorcycles were based on vintage parallel twin-engine bikes. In order to convert these into a scrambler model, more effective for the outback terrain, the Blitz team has followed the customisations made by drovers in the mid Twentieth Century. The motorcycle frame has been lowered and knobbly tyres added to provide improved handling on sand and desert as well as grassland. To complete the scrambler style, track handlebars have also been added.
“As the first instalment in our Craftsman Collaboration Series, this project taps into the spirit of the scrambler and the drovers that reverse engineered them to head off the beaten track, and back again,” said Mathew Hayward, Chief Marketing Officer at R.M.Williams. “The collaboration is the manifestation of the spirit of adventure meeting craftsmanship.”
To bring the project to life, R.M.Williams has delved into its archive and recreated two versions of the brand’s original motorcycle boot, first created in 1993. The Scrambler boots will be available in two leather options, chestnut crocodile, an exotic leather available through the brand’s bespoke service and priced at £4,995, and black New Zealand cowhide, a leather exclusive to the collaboration, priced at £595. The Scrambler boots feature a tread rubber sole and are the result of 85 hand-held processes. These limited edition boots will be available for purchase both at Harrods on the Fifth Floor though the R.M.Williams Made-to-Order service and via the R.M.Williams website, RMWilliams.com.
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