The iconic British welly boot Hunter refreshes its brand in a campaign encouraging diversity amidst the outdoors

Wellie boots are a mainstay of our fondest British summer memories. Imagine squelching around Glastonbury or Reading without your trusty wellies. Summer just wouldn’t be summer in the UK without our consistent waves of rain showers and muddy soles. To capture the elements of what it truly means to be British, Hunter has injected the experience of the outdoors in a pair of their signature wellie boots with the aim of exploring new environments.

The urban landscapes we rarely associate with donning our favourite wellies becomes one of the backdrops for the Two Feet In campaign, shot by Anton Gottlob, Ryan Lowry and Alex Leese. It felt important for Lowry to highlight each of the subjects he photographed in a way that felt real and true to who they really are day-to-day. “Obviously there’s going to be an element of advertising in the photos but I feel everyone’s personality and energy really shined through,” he continues, a sentiment Gottlob echoes for the photos of his own subjects.

The campaign’s creative team at Frosty Pop wanted to stress what it sees as Hunter’s ability to inspire an outdoors lifestyle and serve “so many different kinds of people,” says Sabine Le Marchand, the campaign’s creative director. Le Marchand continues: “We wanted the images and film to tell the honest stories of individuals that Hunter felt were doing meaningful, important things alongside nature with positive influence.”

For The World Outside hopes to remind people that involving themselves in the protection and love of nature and its communities is imperative. Hunter chose the seven subjects of the campaign based on the important work to raise awareness and create change through their connection to nature. Damsel Elysium is one – a London-based visual and sound artist, composer and self-proclaimed tree whisperer. George Lamb is another – the founder of the community farm and education programme Grow based in London. Lamb set up the non-profit schools and community programme to promote a more hands-on relationship with nature with an aim to change behaviour towards the natural world through the education of children. And Florence Huntington-Whiteley joins their ranks, the co-founder of creative ethics consultancy CogDis, who believes that “becoming a conscious human being is the key to becoming more conscious about the planet.”

Although the Hunter Wellington boot can sometimes be associated with a somewhat elitist countryside clientele, Le Marchand says she loves how, for the new campaign, each subject wears the boots without hierarchy and in a more inclusive way for this campaign. Hence the shrugging off of the typical Hunter landscape of rolling English fields scattered with stately homes. “The Hunter brand has long been perceived within a certain British social heritage,” Le Marchand continues, “this cast and campaign create something we believe is far more real, relevant and relatable.” The campaign’s “For the world outside” motif was carried throughout by stressing a love of nature, a sense of protection and an invitation to explore.

The creative teams were asked to capture these unique people in the places they love, “making considered choices about how they live their life,” explains Le Marchand, who credits not only the photographers but the directors of photography Morgan Spencer, Adam Golfer and Mark Adcock, alongside stylist Ai Kamoshita, Frosty Pop art director George Stone, “and the excellent teams at Hunter and Farago Projects,” each of whose hard work all played critical roles in the campaign. Because the aim was for the campaign to feel intimate and authentic, the team drew inspiration from a wide range of sources including documentary photography and personal images from the talent themselves. Lowry claims that when he received the brief, he immediately knew he needed to pursue a “real documentary energy.”

Leese, another photographer on the project, says that “the concept by Frosty Pop and Hunter was a perfect balance between being clear and defined while also giving myself and the other creatives involved the freedom to express themselves.” Gottlob claims that Florence Huntington-Whiteley and George Lamb, who he photographed, “together with everyone from the team, were the inspiration themselves. With their passion for nature and the outside, I drew my inspiration from documenting their world.”

The team got to work shooting in New York, London and Wales. It was important for the agency to work with creative and production teams that worked in sustainable and efficient ways. Le Marchand wanted the campaign to have a “true international feel” and an intention to capture more stories in other global cities. Lowry remembers that it was “95 degrees in New York City” (that’s 35 degrees celsius for us Brits) when they were shooting, “so being outside all day in the heat is, of course, a challenge.” For the photographer, whose job consists of standing on your feet all day and lugging around camera equipment, the challenge was “the heat.” But over in good ol’ Britain, Gottlob reminisces of the shoot that “it was raining, like, a lot.” Which, it turns out, was perfect weather for their campaign. “With wet feet, I only wished that I would have had a pair of Hunter Boots sooner!” he tells It’s Nice That.

The campaign hopes to represent a signal change as part of Hunter’s clear and ambitious plan to reposition itself as the leading iconic outdoor lifestyle brand for all people. With a product that is so specifically designed for outdoor wear, those who live an urban lifestyle might have found it hard to connect to the brand previously. Now, the team at Hunter hopes that this campaign will encourage outdoor exploration for those who have become accustomed to the concrete jungle. The Hunter Originals are available on the Hunter site.