When Stephen Encarnacao learned that Dayton Boots was about to be outsourced to China he didn’t hesitate—he bought out his partners to keep the iconic boot company in Vancouver where it’s been operating since 1946.
“It would have been a tragedy to take such a great brand offshore to China. I mean, it’s synonymous with what’s good and powerful and strong about how this province was built,” says Encarnacao, owner and CEO of Dayton.
The boots, which have a cult following and whose fans include Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie, come with colourful names such as the Black Beauty, the Engineer, the Sidekick, the Confederate, and the Mustang.
But in these days of built-in obsolescence and mass production, what really makes Daytons a cut above the rest is their quality.
Daytons come with a lifetime warranty and are crafted by hand to exacting standards using the Goodyear weld of construction instead of glue and cardboard. This allows them to be resoled and reconditioned numerous times. It is not uncommon to see Daytons still in use after 40 or 50 years, says Encarnacao.
“In fact, if we have a problem it’s that our boots last too long. It may be the bane of our existence but I don’t think we’re going to change because it’s what stands us apart.”
There are over 230 steps in making a pair of Daytons—a labour intensive process that only three percent of the world’s bootmakers still use today.
“It would have been a tragedy to take such a great brand offshore to China. I mean, it’s synonymous with what’s good and powerful and strong about how this province was built,” says Encarnacao, owner and CEO of Dayton.
The boots, which have a cult following and whose fans include Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie, come with colourful names such as the Black Beauty, the Engineer, the Sidekick, the Confederate, and the Mustang.
But in these days of built-in obsolescence and mass production, what really makes Daytons a cut above the rest is their quality.
Daytons come with a lifetime warranty and are crafted by hand to exacting standards using the Goodyear weld of construction instead of glue and cardboard. This allows them to be resoled and reconditioned numerous times. It is not uncommon to see Daytons still in use after 40 or 50 years, says Encarnacao.
“In fact, if we have a problem it’s that our boots last too long. It may be the bane of our existence but I don’t think we’re going to change because it’s what stands us apart.”
There are over 230 steps in making a pair of Daytons—a labour intensive process that only three percent of the world’s bootmakers still use today.
