Field notes.
The research behind the proposal.
Chilli Fig × Polar, for Dunlop. July 2026.
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✎ not quite — try again.
The research behind the proposal.
Chilli Fig × Polar, for Dunlop. July 2026.
Board 01 · The growth wall
From the letter
The precedent card
Loop Earplugs: €1m → €190m in five years. 60% of buyers had never bought earplugs before.
✎ they didn’t win the category. they grew it.
The proof-it-travels clipping
Xtratuf — an Alaskan fishing boot — is America’s fastest-growing boot story, worn rolled-down by teenagers who’ve never seen a trawler.
✎ never chased fashion. that’s why it worked.
The sibling card
Blundstone: Tasmanian work boot → the default city Chelsea, decade-long double-digit growth.
✎ same law, different silhouette.
✎ from the docks to the school run.
Board 02 · Two Dunlops
From the letter
The shelf note
The Dunlop consumers think they know: budget bins, kids’ campsites, a cheap price point.
The yard note
The Dunlop professionals stand in for ten hours: the working standard on farms, trawlers and food lines in 75+ countries.
✎ the gap between these two notes is the whole opportunity.
The spec card
Purofort. Invented 1980. Up to 35% lighter than rubber. The recipe is still a secret, 45 years on.
✎ you can’t fake this. you can only have earned it.
Board 03 · The vacant throne
From the letter
The obituary clipping
Hunter: chased fashion, cheapened the boot, lost the farmers — administration, 2023.
✎ the cautionary tale, pinned first.
The boutique polaroid
Le Chameau: one bootmaker per boot, beloved — and reportedly seeking a buyer.
The departure card
Aigle: gone — beautifully — into French outdoor fashion. The working lane left behind.
The screenshot
Bekina’s ‘leisure’ range, filed inside a safety-boot catalogue.
✎ competes on performance, but lacks the brand.
Board 04 · Culture got there first
From the letter
The forum clipping
“Can anyone ID Jeremy Clarkson’s boots?” — the internet, repeatedly.
✎ the market is literally asking for this boot.
The supermarket stat
Waitrose credits Clarkson’s Farm for double-digit spikes in British produce; agriculture degree applications are climbing.
✎ farming is primetime.
The wardrobe note
The 2026 leisure buyer doesn’t want a wellie designed for them. They want the one the farmer already wears.
✎ that’s dunlop. that’s always been dunlop.
Board 05 · The ground only Dunlop owns
From the letter
The atlas note
‘Dunlop’ lives on tyres, rackets, and forecourts worldwide. The founding legend is shared property.
✎ a name with many owners.
The village card
Raalte, the Netherlands. A factory named Hevea — after the rubber tree. Boots since 1927. Technology and Innovation. Purofort. A secret recipe since 1980.
✎ a history with one owner.
Board 06 · On the radar
Two cards we haven’t turned over.
30.12.2026 — the map of who it hits.
✎ an EU regulation lands soon after the new brand launch. we’ve mapped the category’s exposure.
the proof opportunity.
✎ a brand opportunity hiding inside a compliance obligation. no competitor has yet designed for it.
tap a card
Research: Chilli Fig. Creative: Polar.
Made for Dunlop, July 2026.
Chilli Fig × Polar
Private — prepared for Dunlop