To a specific group of very online Zillennials, “the boots” means only one thing: Frye Campus boots. The style has become the hottest commodity amongst the TikTok fashion girlies, especially in the shade “banana.” They’re currently sold out in multiple sizes and colorways at nearly all Frye retailers, and used versions don’t last long on resell sites like Poshmark, eBay, and The RealReal. As a result, the boots are being duped at an alarming rate at places like Amazon and Target. They are everywhere and they are nowhere.
On TikTok, a search for “Frye Campus boots” yields hundreds, if not thousands, of videos about the style. Some show off their collections of rare vintage Campus boots, while others just lust for them in real time. “They are slowly becoming my personality, and I have worn them with every outfit I could,” says one influencer to camera, cradling her boots like a newborn baby. (At $500 a pop, they are, arguably, worthy of the cradle.)
I was not ready for the cultish level of obsession over this 50-year-old style from a brand which had, at various points during my three decades on Earth, been heralded as both the epitome of cringe and the zenith of cool. My 30-something colleagues and I all remember our own Frye-boot eras—the chokehold the knee-high side-zip riding boot had over the girls in my high school was unparalleled—and were bewildered as the 20-something women in our lives spoke of setting restock alerts on their phones and scouring their hometown vintage stores for a stray pair.
So, what’s the deal? What is causing this massive resurgence of the Frye Campus boot?
Piera Onorati, senior Vice President of merchandising at Authentic Brands Group, which owns The Frye Company, credits “social media buzz and organic VIP placements” for driving the trend. Onorati says the brand has seen a 35% increase in sales of the Campus boot in 2024. And it’s true, Gen Z icons like Olivia Rodrigo, Addison Rae, and Zendaya have all been photographed in the Frye Campus boot lately.
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But to me, this trend seems to go beyond idolizing celebrity style. Many of the boot’s biggest champions on social media tout not just its cosmetic features—its hefty stacked heel, its blunt, squared toe—but its history. Frye is no Louis Vuitton or Gucci, but the name carries weight.
