It’s no secret that we here at The Manual are completely obsessed with Season Three‘s heritage hiking boots. Ditto goes for its message of getting everyone, regardless of location or background, in closer communion with nature. But its latest collaboration, with bag makers Baboon to the Moon, is putting its money where its mouth is. The “On Earth” collection, which drops on Earth Day, April 22, features tons of environmental details, along with a hefty donation of 50% of the profits to the National Parks Foundation.
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Headlining this limited-edition capsule is a special-edition Ansel Boot, Season Three’s flagship model, as well as a special three-pack of laces for boot owners who want to freshen up their look. The colors of these laces tie in with Baboon’s new Elemental line of limited-edition color-blocking and playful patterns, for which its popular duffels and waist packs have long been known. Additionally, two American Supima cotton tees and a thick organic cotton hoodie will also be released. All items are shipped in Forest Stewardship Council-certified recyclable paper packaging and include a packet of wildflower seeds, the latter of which is to be used in “seed bombing” barren ground, creating both beauty and sustenance for local pollinators.
“It’s been a long, long winter, so in celebration of Earth Day this year, we wanted to do something that encourages people to get outside,” said Season Three co-founder, Adam Klein, in the release.
“The cracks between sidewalks, along roads and highways, in parking lots — spots where nature has been all but wiped out,” added Baboon founder Michael Kushner. “What better way to celebrate Earth Day than by adding some nature back to these locations?”
In a wide-ranging interview with The Manual in February, Season Three’s Klein and co-founder Jared Ray Johnson spoke at length of a desire to get more people from all backgrounds into the outdoors, whether that’s in a national or a city park. After meeting in grad school at MIT, the pair designed a shoe patterned after Italian hiking boots of the ’70s and ’80s, but with the intent to market them to the city-dwelling man and women, including to those seldom found in traditional outdoor pursuits. Named after the consummate fine art photographer and outdoorsman Ansel Adams, the company was launched in 2018, and its signature boot is equally at home on single-track trail or a crushed-gravel walking path. “If you’ve got a good pair of shoes,” Johnson explained, “that’s all you really need.”
Beginning on Earth Day, the collaboration’s items will be listed jointly on both companies’ respective sites. Cop quick, because these limited-edition products won’t last and likely won’t return.
