“While Biggie, Nas and DMX were pushing the way you wear Timberlands in New York, Japanese fashion popularized wearing the boots with perfect symmetry,” said Valadez, who also pointed to blue-collar worker adaptations and the 1980 Milanese fashion movement Paninari that allowed the boots to gain traction in Italy.

“You have these individuals who are pioneers of the boot culture, but you also have the rodeo champion who wore the boot for utility and doesn’t even know who Nas or Biggie are,” he added. “You had all these movements happening at the same time, and they all had their halo effects.”

Timberland, which consumers have nicknamed “Timbs,” “Timbos” and simply “the yellow boot,” acts as a blank canvas for stylistic debate. This month, the brand will encourage social media users to broadcast their lacing methods, custom additions and inscriptions using the hashtag #MyTimbs.

According to Valadez, this discourse bleeds into backstage operations at the brand and agency, which he said underscores the degree to which the brand is embedded in culture. 

“How do you tie them? Do you keep the tag on? Do you keep them clean or do you beat them up?” he said, adding that the team captured the product 17 different ways. “When shooting a side view of the boot, there were many internal arguments, and we are starting that dialogue among creators and on TikTok.”