The cloth
Bogolanfini begins as hand-woven cotton strip cloth, joined selvedge to selvedge before it ever meets the dye. It is dyed with a wolo bark tannin with iron-rich mud drawn from the Niger banks — the pattern is not printed on, it is drawn in mud and then the ground around it is lifted away. On this piece the mudcloth meets full-grain and nubuck leather uppers, technical knit and breathable mesh, woven bogolan mudcloth collar tiles, harness straps, tongue panels and laces, aged-gold z-hardware, cushioned eva midsoles and sculpted traction outsoles — z-chain™ rail and expedition traction systems are concepts pending engineering validation.
