HTS74: How HI-TEC® Resurrected Forgotten Classics

HI-TEC® kicked things off with a bang when they burst onto the scene in the mid-1970s. Established in 1974 in Shoeburyness, at the mouth of the Thames Estuary in southeast Essex, the brand has long been associated with two particular styles: the Squash and the lightweight Sierra Light hiking boot. While the latter was introduced by the brand’s Modesto, CA-based outpost in the USA, the aptly named Squash — which was crafted, naturally, for playing squash — holds the distinction of being HI-TEC®’s first-ever release and one that’s sold over 18 million pairs worldwide to date.

Squash and hiking silhouettes aside, HI-TEC® competed with its more established sporting goods counterparts in the 1980s by dropping some of the most underrated runners of the era. Finally, some decades later, those silhouettes are finally getting the shine they deserve as HI-TEC® bring back some of their most coveted OGs, which have been modernised and reestablished under a new banner: HTS74.