When Will Roman's back began to ache with age, giving up his beloved cowboy boots was not an option. A self-described stubborn Texan, he embarked on a quest to find boots that combined durability with the comfort needed for long days on his feet. After testing countless brands and materials, he found that most either addressed one issue while aggravating another. This frustration led to the founding of Chisos Boot Company in 2019, an Austin-based, family-owned brand that designs boots from the ground up, ensuring structure and comfort work in harmony.
The core of Chisos' innovation is its removable comfort insole, which features a leather top over a multi-density polymer build with gel pads at the heel and ball of the foot. Roman spent months testing materials, rejecting memory foam because it loses resilience after a few hours. He wanted a material that would provide consistent rebound throughout the day while still allowing the foot to imprint naturally, as traditional insoles do. "There is not another insole on the market like this," Roman said.
However, the insole alone is not the whole story. Chisos emphasizes that drop-in inserts fail when the boot itself isn't designed for them. Every pair is built with the comfort system in mind: the last runs larger, the heel counter is taller, and the vegetable-tanned leather footbed provides structured arch support, backed by a conformed steel shank. The heel counter is crafted from firm vegetable-tanned leather, not plastic or fiberboard, to cradle the heel and firm up the rear as the boot breaks in.
Chisos prioritizes stability over softness, arguing that overly soft footwear can cause posture and gait issues over time. The boots feature a firm heel counter, structured footbed, and a walking heel with a modest lift, rather than a high riding heel or zero-drop sole. The wider toe box, such as the refined square toe on the No. 2 style, allows toes to align naturally, facilitating balance corrections during walking.
On hard surfaces, leather-only soles can transfer impact up the body, but the comfort insole sits between the foot and the leather sole to dissipate shock without sacrificing the resolable leather construction. Roman acknowledges that switching boots won't cure medical conditions like sciatica, but he notes, "It can make a big difference. It worked for me, and I hear from customers every week about how switching to a pair of Chisos has enabled them to wear boots again."
As Chisos boots break in, the foot forms indentations in both the comfort insole and the leather insole beneath, creating a custom fit that reduces micro-movements needed for balance. This means the boots improve over time, rather than peaking on day one. Cross-section videos on the company's YouTube channel showcase the intricate construction, including stacked leather heels, leather heel counters, and channel-welted construction.
Chisos boots are available at chisos.com and at Chisos HQ in Austin, Texas. The company, named after the Chisos Mountains in Big Bend National Park, builds small-batch, hand-lasted boots with traditional Goodyear welt construction and vegetable-tanned leather components. A portion of every sale supports Texas land conservation, reflecting the brand's commitment to quality and community.
