/////////////////////////////////////////////// From the time we were in high school and wore Doc Martens or rooted around in our dad’s closet, looking for old Vasque castoffs, we’ve never discriminated. Cowboy boots, Chelsea boots, Campus boots, and Engineer boots have all had their moment in the sun. The fact is, to this day, we are still madly, deeply in love with boots. So much so that in 2009 we cast everything else aside and started a company dedicated to making classic boots. Proudly designed in Austin, Texas and beautifully handcrafted in the U.S. of American-made materials, we hope to make boots that your kid, someday, will want to steal from your closet.
the HELM story
WE’VE ALWAYS LOVED BOOTS.
Joshua started the Subterranean Shoe Room with his brother in San Francisco’s Mission District in the late 90s as a destination for fellow shoe lovers. When he sold SSR and moved to Austin, he found that he missed that aspect of his life and started HELM Boots. He has been designing shoes and boots in Austin ever since. HELM was started because of Joshua’s love and passion for footwear. Behind every style there is a story and strategy to the design process. Because of Joshua’s history as a musician, businessman, and father, he is a true creative entrepreneur with a heart for community, people, and success. HELM Boots reflects that diversity.
about our DESIGNER
Joshua Bingaman started HELM Boots after wearing and obsessing over other brands’ boots for most of his life. Born and raised in small town Oklahoma into a family that included ambulance drivers, mechanics, and preachers, he has traveled all over the world and currently hangs his hat and his heart in Austin, Texas. He has played music, roasted coffee, built houses in Honduras, imported kilims from Turkey, was a specialneeds teacher, and has owned several small businesses centered on footwear and coffee. Basically, Joshua is our model for the HELM Boots Man: He’s got a diverse skill set, he loves adventure, he isn’t afraid to work hard, and he values friends and family deeply.
Q&A
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What inspired the Fall 2015 collection? Black, brown, and grey. Delving deeper into mixing our influences in art & fashion and creating footwear based around these concepts. Tell us a bit more about what makes a “well-designed” boot, in your opinion. Simplicity without seeming stark. Something that is somehow modern and classic at the same time. Can you tell us a bit more about the general aesthetic of HELM, currently? It nods towards work boots of old while bringing in hiking, moto, and sneaker influences. It’s taking on more of the aesthetic European design while focusing only on American sourcing and production. Where do you draw your influences from? Our design is influenced by music, art, literature, and film as much as it is anything else: Debussy, Mark Rothko, Franz Kline, Francis Ford Coppola, Hemingway. We’re also influenced by the day to day - we take much more from people we see on the street or in unexpected places than we do from magazines or runways. What’s been your favorite part of starting HELM? How designing and fabricating involves so many people. We love the daily interactions with people. With so much travel and being able to tie that into designing and creating footwear this is a wonderful job for us. What’s in the works for 2016, brand and design wise? We’re growing fast and there’s more and more momentum with the brand, so it feels like our design and processes inside and around the company are sprouting and blooming. Super exciting!
HELM uses only the best leather from the highest quality tanneries in the U.S.A. - tanneries that produce full-grain side leathers in rich colors that only get better with age. HELM Boots uses both Blake Rapid Stitch and Goodyear Welts. A Goodyear Welt will be stiffer, heavier, and almost totally watertight. A Blake Rapid boot will be lighter, more flexible, and not entirely water-tight. All HELM Boots are resoleable.
HOW THEY’RE MADE
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MADE IN AMERICA
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COMING HOME
More flexibility. Faster deliveries. Local jobs. Why U.S. shoemaking is charging ahead
National Anthem
American-made handiwork hits a high note. Here, NO. 6’s shearling clog and GEORGE ESQUIVEL’s brogue boot add a hometown advantage.
Footwear News, 4/15
Footwear Plus, 11/14
Helm short lace-to-to parka by Woolric T-shirt, sweater by Levi’ Alan trousers, stylist’s o
Joshua Bingaman is the man behind the brand. An adventurous soul, Joshua cares deeply about creating quality shoes that stand the test of time shoes that will get us from one place to the next with reliability and swagger, during our own personal adventures around town or across the globe.
The Helm retail shop looks like an incredible place to visit. Opened in 2013, the shop includes their current selection of boots and a plethora of accesssories for both sexes that are carefully curated, of high quality and made in the USA.
Sweet Peach,Quality, 4/15 attractive craftsmanship appears to be the mantra. Gotta like that...
ENTERTAINMENT, 4/15
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24 Last Minute Gifts For The Lumbersexual In Your Life by gaby wilson (http://www.mtv.com/news/author/wilsonga/) 12/15/2014
Is there a dude in your life whose flannel collection rivals The Brawny Man? A dude who’s able to maintain a chest-length beard with limited food droppage and definitely no animals living inside of it? A dude who displays a clear appreciation for organic toiletries and old fashion craftsmanship from his 16th story city apartment? He just might be a lumbersexual (http://articles.mtv.com/2002135/quiz-how-lumbersexual-are-you/). more: Quiz: How Lumbersexual Are You? (http://articles.mtv.com/2002135/quiz-howlumbersexual-are-you/)
If you’re searching the interweb high and low for a last minute present for this dude, look no further. Here are 24 last minute gifts for the lumbersexual in your life!
1 Buffalo Plaid Coat ($280
(http://www.stormykromer.com/products/the-mackinawcoat.asp))
Sweet Peach, 4/15
Guest of a Guest, 10/14
512-215-4806 contact@helmboots.com WWW.HELMBOOTS.COM