Press release – 26 July 2016
London gunmaker John Rigby & Co. has launched a new range of footwear for the field and bush, specially manufactured by Zimbabwe’s renowned Courteney Boot Company, which specialises in handmade exotic gameskin safari boots and shoes.
Two footwear styles are available in this first phase of the collaboration: a classic Courteney Safari ankle boot and a Courteney Vellie shoe. Both include a handstitched lable bearing the distinctive Rigby ‘double R’ logo in classic Rigby colours.
Lightweight and robust, the buffalo leather Safari ankle boots are designed for stealth, comfort and durability when stalking, but are equally suited to expeditions through the urban jungle. Simple, classic and comfortable, the brown suede Vellie shoes (pronounced fellie) derive from the original ‘veldtschoens’ (bush shoes) of Africa and days when those in need of new footwear had to go and shoot a buck.
Both boots and shoes have been handcrafted using traditional techniques in the Courteney’s small workshop in Bulawayo, using sustainably sourced gameskin leathers, which mould to the foot more effectively than bovine leather. They are available from Rigby’s new online store in UK sizes 7 to 13.
Rigby Courteney Safari boot: £190
Rigby Courteney Vellie shoe: £145