Every time I think I’ve finally completed my footwear collection – an ongoing work of muddy soled art I’ve been accumulating for the last 24 years – another footwear brand pops up from a far-flung corner of the globe. It happened with HOKA about 7 years ago, more recently it was Galibier, and now it’s RIG – a Japanese brand producing some of the finest outdoor & recovery footwear to appear on my explore page in recent months.
I initially learnt about the brand back in January, the rest of the Proper team and I were cruising from showroom to showroom until we eventually stumbled across RIG’s stall tucked in a showroom off one of Paris’s many urine-scented side streets. I quickly perused RIG’s collection – before being yanked away to visit the 133rd showroom of the afternoon. I managed to snag one photo of RIG’s footwear before the whirlwind of Paris made me forget I’d ever encountered the brand.
Then, just the other day, while scrolling Instagram, I stumbled across a shoot by Technical Biome featuring a footwear brand that looked strangely familiar. Suddenly, it clicked. I dug through my camera roll and eventually found that rushed photo from Paris – it was RIG.
So I’ve got Technical Biome to thank for bringing RIG back onto my radar, and RIG owe them one too for showcasing the brand’s impressive SS26 collection – a line-up spanning everything from approach shoes to recovery sandals.
At the heart of the collection is the Bendera, a mule that incorporates a three-layered midsole to promote recovery. Alongside the ample cushioning, the Bendera features a fast lacing system and arrives in a selection of typically tasteful colourways. Then, accompanying the Bendera in the realm of recovery is the Kuruka2.0, a silhouette that takes the very same three-layer midsole tech and works it into the package of a synthetic leather sandal.
But what really grabs my attention about RIG’s SS26 collection – now and back in Paris – is their hiking offerings. Firstly, they’ve got the Tembea, a mid-length boot equipped with a Vibram Megagrip Sole, waterproof eVent fabric, and a handful of delectable colourways – the pick of the bunch being a White and Ocean Blue, with a rich Brown and Black coming a close second.
Then, functioning as a low-profile brother to the Tembea, the Mwamba is the very shoe I snapped back in Paris in January. It’s your typical approach silhouette, complete with metal eyelets, flecked laces, Vibram sole, and a duo of insoles – one for active use, and the other for recovery. In hindsight, the latter would’ve come in handy after my first encounter with RIG, considering I clocked well over 30,000 steps that day.
All told, RIG is a brand worth paying attention to. It feels inevitable that footwear this good-looking and this comfortable will eventually break into the mainstream – and when it does, you’ll want to be one of the people that’s able to say, ‘Yeah, I was wearing them ages ago.’
Find out more about RIG at rigfootwear.com
