Hotter Shoes has collaborated with the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) to launch special edition lace-up pumps designed to help pave a path through Britain’s Covid-19 economic and societal recovery.
As the UK’s largest shoe manufacturer, Hotter is working with the world’s leading gardening charity as the nation’s lockdown restrictions ease this spring. The collaboration comes as the RHS has been impacted by Coronavirus restrictions, with the number of garden visitors being reduced in the last 12 months due to social distancing.
Hotter has created two exclusive pattern designs using seven floral illustrations which were chosen from the extensive RHS Lindley Collections of more than 25,000 botanical images. Hotter’s design team created the unique RHS Rose Floral using six different floral images and RHS Blue Floral using a modern wildflower meadow repeat. Each was created for the Molly canvas shoe and a total of 1,400 pairs have been manufactured at Hotter’s Skelmersdale factory.
Claire Pearl, Chief Product Officer at Hotter, said: “Our design team created these practical, comfortable, modern and stylish designs in collaboration with the RHS to launch just in time for the start of national easing of lockdown. Like many other organisations and visitor attractions across the country, the RHS has been severely impacted by the Coronavirus pandemic and at Hotter, we wanted to play our part in raising awareness of this fantastic horticultural charity.
“It’s brilliant to see these unique designs come to life on our comfortable footwear. The launch of this small, focused collection is even more poignant at a time when we know that our customers are keen to be outdoors enjoying long-awaited walks with family and friends.”
Shereen Llewellin, Licensing Executive, RHS, said: “With their strong evocation of the joys of meadows and roses, these shoes underline the RHS message about the health benefits of getting outside to enjoy gardens and nature, while adding a touch of flair and style that makes these shoes truly stand out. These Hotter deck shoes are a joy to look at and I’m sure will be a joy to wear.”
This year’s designs, available to buy at six garden centres nationwide and internationally at Hotter.com, also sparked up a collaboration between Hotter and Manchester University. A pattern design student was instrumental in the creation of the design repeats, working alongside the footwear designers at Hotter to create this year’s styles.
Hotter first collaborated with Britain’s favourite gardening charity, the RHS, during 2019 and this new range is the second collection launched during a successful two-year partnership.
