Duckfeet Faborg: More than a Duck’s Foot
Price: $288
Why Buy?
The Duckfeet Faborg offers high quality materials and a last where your feet with thank you.
Why Avoid?
The Duckfeet Faborg doesn’t have any arch support by design, and isn’t the most versatile style.
Specs
Model | Faborg |
Height | 7″ |
Size | 46 |
Weight | 766 g / 1 lb 10 oz |
Materials | Leather / Crepe |
Construction | Stitchdown |
Country of Origin | Poland |
History
Founded back in 1975, Duckfeet as a brand is wonderfully Danish as you could imagine in just about everything they do.
Yes, there are little Danish flags on everything they make. And, yes, they are as humble as you’ll ever find a brand about their own history. (It’s refreshing, even if it makes this part of a review a bit harder to write).
However, that Dainsh-ness doesn’t stop there. On their website you don’t just find shoes. They have an entire Maker’s Market for local, hand-made goods. It’s worth checking out, there are some good prices for mostly Made-in-USA stuff.
You’ll also find a strong commitment to environmentalism. We’ll talk about the materials of the shoes themselves later, but another example is that they commit a portion of sales to planting mangrove trees to offset shipping C02.
Keep searching and you’ll even find that Danish stubbornness. They made the Sjaelland as their very first shoe, and they have not stopped making it since.
All of that is well and good, but what about today? Should you consider taking a look at a pair of these uniquely shaped boots? Let’s dive in and find out.
Disclaimer: Duckfeet sent me this pair of boots for the purpose of review. However, this is not a sponsored post and the brand was not able to see this review before it went live, or edit anything said.
Disclaimer 2: The actual names of their shoes are in Danish, and I’ve used (incorrect) English spellings for this review based on what people search for on Google. The correct spelling of the shoe above is the Duckfeet Sjælland and the boot reviewed is the Duckfeet Fåborg.
Looks
Upper
At first, the upper of the Duckfeet Faborg seems like a fairly simple affair. Based around the chukka boot pattern of their Sjaelland, you can see pointed quarters, and thick stitching. However, taking a step further, you’ll see that Duckfeet might have done a bit more updating than they let on.
It’s true, the boot has a substantial amount of thick stitching similar to those first models they made. However, take a closer look, and it’s clear that little improvements were made. Thinner stitching – as to not mess with the original design – offers reinforcement on typical high-wear areas. You can find it near the bottom of the eyelets, and along the heel counter.
This particular pair comes in their “brown” leather, though if you’re feeling a bit adventurous, they have much more daring colors. At time of writing, they have greens, blues, green and blue, purple and more. However, they do seem to rotate these brighter colors in and out fairly regularly. If you see a non-standard color you like, it probably makes sense to grab it when you can.
The leather itself is visually quite nice. There isn’t a ton of pull up, however it does have light undertones that show with scrapes and bumps. Or, in other words, these will definitely patina a lot with wear.
I think now is a good time to talk about the shape. The Duckfeet look like – you guessed it – duck feet. Designed similar to barefoot style shoes, the boot has a very wide toebox. And, not just wide, but Munson shaped. Primarily done for comfort, it is also a statement in style.
Mid- and Outsole
The bottom half of the Duckfeet Faborg is made with a medium thickness crepe rubber outsole. And I do mean actual crepe.
Most brands that make “crepe outsoles” really put a thin layer of crepe rubber over a piece of EVA foam or similar. You can see this close up in our review of the Kith x Adidas x Clarks collab 100wears reviewed a few weeks ago. Or, alternatively, they use a foam outsole with crepe rubber mixed in.
All Duckfeet footwear is pure crepe from the midsole to the floor. And real crepe rubber has a different look compared to the thin wraps you find elsewhere. Built by pouring thin layer over thin layer, real crepe outsoles naturally have a lot of variances to them. These are no exception.
Real crepe outsoles are also much lighter in color than than the fake ones.
The outsole that the Faborg uses does have a slight heel to it, though less than half an inch. This takes them away from a pure barefoot shoe in the style department.
Summary
I always appreciate a piece of footwear that has a clear design from the outset. The Duckfeet Faborg is one of those designs.
It’s simple and old school. Even when they had to stray from this path slightly with the reinforced stitching, they hid it away.
The Duckfeet Faborg is also surprisingly easy to style. It doesn’t work with my typical go to of chinos and an oxford, however with an outdoorsy vibe they fit in perfectly. The last, which out of the box is the defining feature, works great with looser fits. Think Granola-core instead of Gorp-core.
I will say, they work better with wear. Initially the chunky stitching and lighter leather are a bit too pristine for the style, but each scuff and crease improves their style.
Fit & Comfort
Fit
The Duckfeet Faborg is designed to fit closer to your foot than you might be used to. However, even with that, they definitely fit small. So small that I actually had to swap my typical boot size after receiving mine.
However, once you do get the correct size, it’s an extremely accommodating last. Famously, our feet start off triangular in shape, and only get to what we think of as a foot shape after years of shoes forcing our feet into something they were not intended to be. This last allows your foot to go back to the natural desgin. There are a bunch of health reasons why this is better, but I won’t get into them too much here. A quick google search will take you to information from doctors rather than a shoe enthusiast like myself.
If you’re really on the fence, Duckfeet has one of the coolest features I’ve never seen before. You can actually set up a video call to chat with them and get questions answered! At time of writing, it is extremely easy to get time on the calendar for either a 15 min or 30 min call. Even same day.
Comfort
Starting with the shape of the Duckfeet Faborg, the last is awesome for comfort. If you’ve never had a foot-shaped last you’re missing out. It’s like wearing slippers.
However, Duckfeet did make sure they kept things natural with these – which means no arch support. This is by design, but if you’re used to heavily padded or arched footwear it might take some time to get used to this. If you really don’t like it, they do make insoles designed around this last. Just be sure to consider sizing as you might need to go up a half size compared to a pair with no insole.
For padding, the sneaker relies on a real crepe rubber outsole. Real crepe isn’t particularly squishy, but it has quite a bit of bounce to it. Or, to put it another way, when you first put them on it might not feel as soft as you would expect, but it does a good job preventing fatigue.
Materials & Construction
Materials
The upper of the Duckfeet Faborg is made entirely with Terracare chrome-tanned leather. Terracare leather is a German-tanned leather that focuses on minimizing environmental impact. We’ve reviewed Terracare leather items on 100wears before, but this is by far the thickest cut of it we’ve seen. It does take a bit to break in, but will with some wear.
The insole is also made of Terracare leather, though the midsole is a different (stiffer) leather. There is also a leather heel counter, however keeping with the style the toebox is basically unstructured.
For the Faborg the upper is unlined, however they do make a wool lined version in the Odense.
Under foot, you’ll find natural crepe rubber. Crepe rubber is made by pouring a much of thin layers of natural rubber down and building up the outsole. This used to be fairly common, but as mentioned above, most crepe outsoles now are just a wrap in order to save costs. These are the real deal.
Crepe rubber is great in most weather, though there are two things you should know. If it gets really hot, it’s natural rubber so it can melt. If it gets really cold, they can get hard and lose grip. Duckfeet actually mentions that if either of these happen, leave them inside and they’ll go back to normal.
The laces are thick cotton laces.
The only other thing on the boot is the stitching and Danish flag, each made from a polyester.
Overall, there isn’t anything to complain about with the materials. They are all high quality, and fit the design of the boot well.
Construction
The Duckfeet Faborg is made using a 360-degree stitchdown construction. You can find more about that here, however here is the short version. Stitchdown construction is one of the oldest ways of making footwear. The upper is curved out, and sewn directly to the midsole and outsole.
Crepe soles do have a tendency to spit if sewn through to the ground so Duckfeet added an additional layer of crepe to protect for that.
Duckfeet, as you can probably expect, also puts a big focus on sustainability in their production. You can find videos and more information on that here.
Ease of Care
Considering these boots look better beat up than not, caring for them should be very easy.
Duckfeet offers a leather care kit you can find here for $23. I’ve had the opportunity to try this and it works well, and adds a bit of water protection as well. As is well documented on these pages, I’m a big fan of Bick 4, but I should add there is one big draw for me with this kit. Believe it or not for someone who reviews leather footwear every week, I’m actually a vegetarian. Duckfeet’s product is the only one I’m aware of who will publicly confirm that there is no animal fat. Big thumbs up from me.
When it comes time for a new outsole, Duckfeet have you covered there as well. They offer a resole service for $118, including shipping.
Duckfeet does not recommend shoe trees, and with the last shape you probably wouldn’t be able to find the correct ones anyway.
While this doesn’t impact the Faborg, you should know that if you opt for a wool-lined model, the lining can’t be replaced. Wool does tend to wear much faster than leather, so you’ll probably have a shorter overall life compared to an unlined boot like this one.
Pricing
The Duckfeet Faborg comes in at a price of $288 for the core colors. However, Duckfeet does do seasonal colors that come and go. If you’re flexible on which color you go with – and they happen to still have your size – it is possible to find them for a bit less.
For example, at time of writing they are getting rid of their pretty cool Fall/Winter 2023/2024 color of Granite for $248. Which, despite its name, is not a grey but a bright ruby. I personally like their big bold colors, however if you’re more of a traditional guy, you’re probably not going to find that here.
Still, this does put them in line with premium tiers of footwear.
Comparisons were actually surprisingly hard for these boots, other than other boots in the Duckfeet line up of course. First blush would be Clarks’ 221 line, thought that’s a lower cut and has been out of production for some time in any case. There are some random European brands I could find, but would not be able to recommend.
Wrap Up
The Duckfeet Faborg surprised me when I first got it. After years of reviewing footwear – and feeling the pain that comes with it – I’ve wanted to get something that allows more natural movement for my feet. Have at least one pair I can wear to let them naturally go back to the shape they were meant to be.
I thought that the Duckfeet Faborg would be primarily good for that. Nice materials, sure, but they are boots for the last and style comes second. However, when you’re actually wearing them around, the last shape really doesn’t become a defining feature. It is there, sure, but these have a lot to offer in the style realm too.
Add in a brand that clearly is more than just footwear assemblers, and there is an incredibly compelling package here.
I’ve already worn these more than I expected in the couple of weeks I’ve had them, so definitely keep an eye out for a 100 wear review soon.