Luckily for Calgary, Alberta, Canada, the city is right on trend, thanks to its local cowboy boot manufacturer, Alberta Boot Company.
Founded in Calgary in 1978, the company has been handcrafting premium western boots for 45 years – far before it was trending.
They handcraft every pair of Alberta Boots in their workshop, and each pair goes through a 230-step, seven-and-a-half-hour production process – which is especially impressive considering they produce all the boots for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
Inspired by their Canadian prairie roots, Alberta Boot’s iconic footwear are made with leather, even carrying exotic leathers like ostrich and python.
But with an ethos to evolve for the modern cowboy and cowgirl, the company is experimenting with materials like pineapple leather and mushroom leather, given the spike in popularity of vegan alternatives.
In summer 2022, Alberta Boot opened a 30,000-square-foot flagship store in downtown Calgary, where visitors can see manufacturing in action through a 30-metre glass wall that looks directly into the factory.
Later this year, Alberta Boot plans to open the glass doors for public tours to offer an immersive experience and an up-close look at the production process.
The cowboy boot trend will be especially apparent this summer during the annual Calgary Stampede festival, a 10-day celebration of western heritage and community spirit.
During ‘The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth’, locals and visitors get decked out in boots, hats, denim, bolo ties, and all kinds of creative western outfits.
The Stampede spirit and western fashion extends far beyond just Stampede Park, where the midway rides, rodeo, concerts, and wacky food vendors are located.
Visitors will be hard-pressed to stroll the streets of Calgary – which are covered in hay bales, barrels, and rustic wooden signs – without seeing cowboy boots being donned by locals and visitors to the destination, everywhere they go.