May 21, 2009
In July 2006 Michael Todd was reading the Guardian newspaper when in it he spotted a paparazzo photo of model Kate Moss. She was stomping through the mud at the Glastonbury music festival in a pair of black, clunky knee-high rubber boots, made by Hunter, a 150-year-old British footwearmaker. Shortly after, Todd called Hunter’s chief executive, Peter Mullen, with some unsolicited advice. Moss’ choice of the stuffy Wellington boot brand–it wasn’t pushed on her by Hunter–meant it might be poised to shed its dumpy image. To build the company, said Todd, a veteran of faddish bootmaker Ugg boots, Mullen needed to start pushing Hunter toward a younger, more fashion-conscious crowd.
