After becoming popular in Croatia, Borovo’s ‘’Zenge’’ yellow boots are to be shipped to other parts of the world.
The ‘’Zenge’’ yellow boots became popular during the Homeland War in 1990s when Croatian soldiers wore them while defending the city of Vukovar.
In November last year, they were brought back to the big scene when the Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović wore them during a procession on Vukovar Remembrance Day.
‘’After our President wore ‘’Zenge’’ and the media highlighted them in their reports, it stirred a lot of interest of customers from all over Croatia as well as from Diaspora. We had inquiries from the United States, Canada, Australia, Germany etc. Thus, we decided to make another limited series of ‘’Zenge’’ boots but this time not only for men but also for women’’, explained Marija Rušnov, a marketing associate from Borovo.
The latest series of the ‘’yellow boots’’ is identical to that manufactured in the pre-war period. They are of yellow colour and handmade from hydrophobic leather, which makes them waterproof.
During the manufacturing process, each pair goes through the hands of 60 workers at Borovo making them even more special. The only thing that differs the new series from the former ‘’Zenge’’ is the stronger imprint of Vukovar Water Tower on the lower side of the boot.
Borovo d.d. is the most famous shoe manufacturer in Croatia with the longest tradition, heritage and love for shoes. The company was founded in 1931 with its headquarters in Vukovar.
The production of the popular yellow boots began in 1985, following the order of the American company Royce Shoes. They were intended for desert-mountainous areas with extremely high daily air temperatures, and freezing cold air temperatures at night.
Borovo used to manufacture 200,000 to 250,000 pairs of ‘’Zenge’’ boots for Royce Shoes. However, the latest manufactured series was not shipped to the American buyer due to the Homeland War, thus remained in the Borovo warehouses.
Nevertheless, Borovo is planning to continue the manufacture of the popular ‘’yellow boots 85’’ in the near future.