It begins in the kind of quiet you only find at the ends of the earth. No traffic, no chatter, just ice, wind, and the crunch of boots on snow. Arctic photographer and filmmaker Florian Ledoux knows that quiet well. He’s spent years tracking polar bears across frozen landscapes, capturing moments that feel raw, fragile, and completely unfiltered. His work doesn’t dramatise the cold. It respects it. And that’s exactly why SOREL wanted him out there, wearing their boots, living in them, not posing in them.
Ledoux joins writer and documentarian Hugh Francis Anderson as SOREL’s first-ever Brand Ambassadors, a pairing that feels more like a working collaboration than a campaign. They’re not here to sell a story. They’re here to live it. Testing product in real Arctic conditions, feeding honest feedback back to the brand, and helping shape what comes next. In that sense, they’re an extension of SOREL’s design process as much as they are its voice.
That matters, because SOREL has always been built on credibility. Born in a Canadian snowstorm in 1962, the brand made its name protecting people from truly brutal winter conditions. The original Caribou boot became legendary when it took the first steps at the North Pole in 1968, proving its performance in the most extreme environment imaginable . That moment still anchors everything SOREL does today.
The Fall 2025 Horizon collection is a direct nod to that history. Inspired by the iconic Caribou, it takes the toughness and reliability that made the original famous and updates it for now. Modern silhouettes, premium materials, and a versatility that works just as well in the city as it does out in the elements. This is gear designed for people who don’t want to change boots every time the plan changes.
The Caribou Horizon GTX styles for men and women keep the rugged DNA intact while sharpening the look and feel. They’re waterproof, built for serious cold, and tough enough to take a beating, but they also feel considered and contemporary. You can tell these boots were designed to be worn hard, not babied.
Having Ledoux and Anderson put the Horizon collection through its paces is what makes this all feel real. They’re wearing the boots where performance actually counts, in environments that don’t care about marketing promises. Their role is simple: test, observe, report back. That loop between the Arctic and the design studio is where SOREL’s heritage turns into something living, not just historical.
There’s a nice seasonal symmetry to all of this. A brand born of the Arctic, launching a collection rooted in North Pole history, right as winter rolls back around. But this isn’t about holiday nostalgia. It’s about reminding people that winter doesn’t need to be endured. It can be met head on, with gear that looks good, works hard, and has the story to back it up.
SOREL has never chased trends for the sake of it. This collaboration, and the Horizon collection itself, proves that the brand is still doing what it’s always done best: building footwear you can trust, shaped by real conditions, and made for people who aren’t afraid of a bit of cold.
