“The Rios of Mercedes category”

Good evening. I’m Matsushima from cantáte.

Western boots are iconic, almost like something out of a film, and I think I had even avoided opportunities to try them on.

But those words—“You’ll absolutely love them, so I want you to try them”—brought my prejudice to an end.

The moment I put my foot in, I realized it. This wasn’t a “western boot,” but a genuine tool.

 

 

A fit that defies the conventional wisdom that boots are “heavy and stiff”

 

When people hear “boots,” many probably imagine something “heavy and stiff.”

In fact, I have felt that way with other brands.

But Rios of Mercedes is different.

From the moment you put them on, there is a fit that naturally envelops your feet, and once you start walking, they feel remarkably light.

A last passed down for more than 100 years, combined with the adjustments made possible by handcrafting, makes it possible.

Over six months, then a year, that surprise turned into certainty.

 

Tradition and Obsessive Details

 

■The Last and Hand Lasting

A fit that hugs the arch can only come from a last finished by hand and hand lasting.

Machine lasting produces fewer contours and a somewhat flat, uniform appearance.

A shoe pulled and shaped by hand, with the leather’s characteristics carefully read and stretched to just before the point of tearing, transforms into something else entirely. ──That, to me, is what hand-lasted construction does: taking it from a blank slab and giving it curves and allure, like an hourglass figure.

 

■Outsole Leather

The exceptionally thick outsole uses leather cut exclusively from the center of the cowhide—the bendix—made from vegetable-tanned leather carefully tanned for approximately 90 days.

The finished leather is repeatedly compressed under pressure, transforming it into a material that combines hardness and durability.

Its short, dense fiber structure is not merely strong; it also combines lightness with a long service life.

The arch is further secured to the sole with *lemonwood pegs (wooden pegs made from lemonwood)*.

Wood is used instead of metal nails because, like leather, it breathes and repeatedly expands and contracts with changes in humidity, gradually becoming one with the leather.

Lavishing this much effort on hidden areas is also part of Rios’s “obsessive” attention to detail.

 

• An Insole Developed to a Honey Color After 10 Years of Wear

  Your foot shape sinks in, forming a one-of-a-kind footbed.

  As the leather darkens to a deeper brown from exposure to the sun, only the wooden pegs remain white.

 

• New Insole

  In its pristine, firm state.

  From this point onward, the wearer’s steps are imprinted into it, gradually developing into a one-of-a-kind footbed.

■Insole Leather

The insole uses leather cut from the shoulder and belly sections of the same hide as the outsole.

Its soft, flexible fiber structure makes it easy to maintain the channel used to stitch the welt.

As soon as you start wearing it, it remembers the shape of your foot, creating a fit that is uniquely yours.

Above all,A good insole doesn’t develop an odor。

This, too, is an essential element in supporting everyday life as a “tool.”

And a one-of-a-kind footbed that has faithfully taken the shape of your own foot.

 

■Distinctive Welt Construction

Distinct from, yet similar to, Goodyear construction, this is a uniquely Western method of attaching the welt.

As with hand-sewn construction, it does not use rib tape, giving it excellent flexibility and a construction designed with repairs in mind.

Instead of cork, the filling inside is a single piece of fabric, like denim.

(My guess is that it’s just a piece of fabric used to check whether water has ever seeped in during repairs. lol)

Because there is no cork, they don’t get stuffy. Perfect for summer.

Every detail is made with a reason behind it.

 

■Embroidery Stitchwork

The embroidery applied to the shaft is not mere decoration, but proof of meticulous craftsmanship.

The embroidery on the shaft,The level of care extends to changing the screen for each plate, just like screen printing, so each version can be purchased。

A pattern imbued with meaning and soul in every stitch.

Actually, this embroidery machine is made in Japan. I’m very proud of it.

They say it has to be a Japanese machine.

 

■Side Seam and Piping

Although vinyl is generally used in this area, Rios makes it by wrapping leather around kite string.

So even when scuffed, they look good,Comfortable against the skin and never sticky。

 

■Heel and Box Toe

In many boots, the stiffeners are made from plastic or steel.

At Rios, both the heels and toes are carved from leather. That gives them excellent breathability, and the subtle differences between individual pairs are endearing.

Moreover, the stacked leather heels feel wonderful when they meet the ground. Above all, they are beautiful.

Rather than Nanpou or synthetic resin, the heels are still carefully built up one layer at a time, even helping to correct your posture.

They do not cut corners even in details you would never notice or understand without an explanation.

In fact, it’s not about whether they cut corners or not──I think this is simply all they know how to do.

 

No matter which detail you look at, there is an unpretentiousness in doing ordinary things properly.

I even love the parts that have not been scuffed like that.

At this point, I can’t blame you for saying an effect has been appliedｗ

 

The meaning behind the hidden decoration

 

 

The embroidery on a western boot shaft.

At first glance, it may look flashy.

In reality, it is hidden beneath the trouser hem, only coming into view when you take the boots off or cross your legs.

In everyday life, it is rarely seen by anyone else.

So why is it there?

In fact, without the embroidery, the shaft could not stand on its own.

It has a structural purpose, and from there, I think the idea emerged that “if you’re going to do it, it might as well look good,” leading to patterns being stitched like family crests.

That is why this embroidery is not merely decoration.

They are both an inevitability dictated by function and an expression of aesthetic judgment.

With that background, western boots are sometimes considered more formal than dress shoes in their native America.

Not excessive embellishment, but beauty born from structure.

That, I believe, is the essence of Rios of Mercedes boots.

 

 

⸻

 

The refinement of a tool

 

To me, clothing is a tool: something that protects the body, adapts to the climate, and supports us every day.

In that sense, Rios of Mercedes, too, is made uncompromisingly as a “tool.”

In durability, comfort, and repairability──their level of completion, built on the premise of long-term use leaves other boots unable to compete.

 

I’m starting to feel like destroying your desire to shop, so let me introduce the one-year and two-year pairs.

 

 

• Background: new

• Foreground: my personal pair after two years of wear

  The toes naturally curl upward, and deep creases are etched into the vamp.

  As the shaft gradually leans forward, the boots finally become “your own feet.”

  You can experience an exceptional level of comfort, entirely unlike that of new boots.

  The black leather uses exactly the same leather, despite the different designs.

 

Yet simply allowing one or two years to pass can make the sheen and depth of the black change this dramatically.

They are made from the same leather, yet look like entirely different boots──that is the appeal of leather that “develops.”

 

• Background: new

• Foreground: my personal pair after one year of wear

  The longer you wear them, the more the boots become one with their owner’s feet.

  The shaft leans forward, while the toes naturally curl upward.

  The outsole darkens to a honey brown, the EVA sole wears down, and it takes on a contrast that can never be achieved when new.

  That transformation speaks to the essence of a tool.

  
  

Meanwhile, the natural color gradually darkens, slowly changing into a rich honey brown.

What began with an unblemished expression gains depth over time, developing a color unique to its wearer.

 

 

• Right: new

• Left: my personal pair after one year of wear

  　The leather’s character has changed, with wrinkles and a subtle sheen beginning to emerge. They have developed a depth of comfort and conformity that new boots simply cannot offer.

 

This is not mere aging, but the evolution of a tool in response to its user.

Reflecting the life and habits of the person who wears them, they reveal a one-of-a-kind character.

New is not best; rather, “boots look their finest after time has passed.”。

Rios of Mercedes boots are what prove it.

⸻

There is only one thing I want to convey.

I truly want you to experience the surprise of thinking, “Can boots really be this different?”

And──please,

Please don’t lump Rios of Mercedes together with “just western boots.”

I believe this is a genre called Rios of Mercedes, with the face of a pair of western boots.

 

I’ve said it many times, but you’ll understand once you wear them—and if you don’t, you’ll never know.

cantáte Matsushima Shin