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SCOTS-MADE Hunter wellies will soon be walking tall in some of New York's most fashionable Fifth Avenue stores.
Dumfries-based Hunter Rubber has got its foot firmly through the door of the US market, with its latest ranges now being sold in luxury outlets such as Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdale's and Bergdorf Goodman.
Hunter, whose wellies are favourites of the royal family, Madonna and Kate Moss, has been eager to revive its flagging fortunes by expanding out of its UK stronghold. Now its boots are set to become the latest designer must-have among Manhattan's style queens.
Melanie Rickey, fashion features editor for Grazia magazine, claimed the company's recent troubles had encouraged people to buy Hunter wellingtons again.
"They became a bit of a trendy item because the business nearly went into liquidation. It has become fashionable to save these dying brands, " she said.
However, she put the boots' increasing popularity in the US down to the American obsession with British royalty and aristocracy rather than fashion.
"It is a bit of a trend in New York, where people like to look like upperclass English people. But they are absolutely not a fashion item, they are a pair of wellington boots, " she said.
Sunday Herald fashion editor Eva Arrighi said...