The Birkenstock Boston Turns 50 and Gets a Seoul Makeover

The Birkenstock Boston has had quite the second act. Introduced in 1976 as the brand’s first closed toe clog, it spent decades as a practical shoe for people on their feet before becoming the unofficial uniform of every creative studio and coffee queue in the world. This year it turns 50, and to mark it, Birkenstock has reunited with Seoul based label AderError for their second collaboration together.

The capsule is built around the idea that thread is the simplest way of joining two separate things, which is AderError’s slightly art school way of describing a partnership. In practice it means visible stitching everywhere, including the label’s signature zigzag embroidery.

There are two shoes in the collaboration, starting with The Boston Cap in black or camel. It now gets a dual layer leather upper topped with a utilitarian leather toe cap. The Boston Flap is the more vivid of the pair, arriving in AderError’s Ultra Blue or an earthy Honey tone with an exaggerated flap folded over the upper and fixed in place with chunky white whipstitch, like a clog wearing a little coat.