This is the first time Sorel appears on our blog, and we are introducing it through its second collaboration with the London label Aries. The Sorel x Aries Daystorm Chukka was released on 8 October 2026 and is now with us in Tobacco and Black. It takes a boot built for Canadian winters and reworks it through one of the most respected names in London streetwear.
Sorel was born in 1962 in Kitchener, Ontario, where the Kaufman Rubber Company launched it as a line of winter sport and work boots. Kaufman already knew the cold well, since its name had appeared on the fleece-lined flight boots worn by the Royal Canadian Air Force after the Second World War. The model that defined the new brand was the Caribou, with a rubber shell, a waterproof leather upper and a removable felt liner.
The Caribou remains the template for almost everything Sorel makes today. When Kaufman Footwear went bankrupt in 2000, Columbia Sportswear bought the Sorel name. From its new base in Portland, the brand has grown beyond heavy-duty snow boots into city styles like the Slabtown 62 and the Madson Chukka. The Daystorm line belongs to that chapter, carrying the Caribou's DNA into a lighter boot for everyday streets.
Aries was founded in London in 2009 by Sofia Prantera and Fergus Purcell, two people who had shaped British streetwear long before it had that name. Prantera grew up in Rome and studied at Central Saint Martins. Before Aries, she built Holmes, the in-house label of Slam City Skates, and co-founded Silas.
Purcell drew the graphics for both labels. In the same year Aries launched, he also designed the Tri-Ferg triangle that still defines Palace. For Aries, he created the temple logo and chose the name from his star sign, describing the brand as "a collision between trashy and high-end".
Fifteen years of Italian design, rave and punk references and sell-out collaborations have earned Aries a cult following. Its story now fills a 300-page Rizzoli book, Aries Arise Archive. The partnership with Sorel began in September 2025 with the Callsign Horizon, a Caribou-based boot that sold out at stockists like Kith and END.
The Daystorm Chukka brings the Caribou down to a lower, city-friendly height while keeping the volume of a real winter boot. The upper is full-grain leather, with hair-on cowhide on the vamp and tongue. A natural shearling collar folds out into an exposed cuff, over a leather lining and a removable OrthoLite insole. Underneath, a Vibram XS Trek EVO outsole with retro lugs sits on a full rand with a 40 mm heel.
The Tobacco pair is a deep brown with pale shearling that suits camel corduroy and flannel. The Black pair goes fully tonal under a long dark coat. The campaign, shot by the artist Joe Cruz, puts the grime MC D Double E at its centre.
We like that neither side gives anything up here. Sorel brings six decades of building boots for real cold, and Aries brings the London point of view that makes them worth wearing in town. The Sorel x Aries Daystorm Chukka is available now on noirfonce.eu at €274.99 in Tobacco and Black, in limited sizes. For more footwear made ready for winter, read our story on the Adidas Handball Spezial WTR.
