When Will Roman's back began to protest with age, he faced a dilemma familiar to many Texans: the desire to wear cowboy boots versus the need for comfort. Rather than abandon his boots, Roman, a self-described stubborn Texan, embarked on a quest to find a pair that could provide both. After testing numerous brands and materials, he found that most boots either compromised on construction or failed to offer adequate support for long days on his feet. This gap led to the founding of Chisos Boot Company in 2019, an Austin-based, family-owned enterprise that rethinks the traditional cowboy boot from the ground up.
The core of Chisos' approach is a holistic comfort system, not just an add-on insole. The removable comfort insole features leather atop a multi-density polymer base with gel pads at the heel and ball of the foot, designed to dissipate impact. Roman deliberately rejected memory foam, which loses its rebound after a few hours of standing. Instead, he sought a material that would maintain its resilience throughout the day while still molding to the foot like a traditional leather insole. "There is not another insole on the market like this," Roman asserts.
However, the insole is only part of the story. Chisos boots are engineered to work with the comfort system. The last (the mold on which the boot is built) is slightly larger, the heel counter is taller, and the footbed is made of vegetable-tanned leather with structured arch support. A steel shank reinforces the arch, and the heel counter, cut from firm vegetable-tanned leather, provides a stable cradle that firms up as the boot breaks in. This structural foundation is crucial because drop-in inserts often fail when the boot's internal shape isn't designed to accommodate them.
Chisos prioritizes stability over extreme softness, arguing that overly cushioned footwear can lead to postural compensations that exacerbate discomfort. The boots feature a firm heel counter, a structured footbed, and a walking heel with a modest lift of about an inch and a half, which Roman says promotes walking stability and natural arch support. A wider toe box, including the refined square toe on styles like the No. 2, allows toes to remain aligned, facilitating the subtle balance adjustments needed for walking.
On hard surfaces like concrete, traditional leather soles transmit impact up the body. Chisos' comfort insole sits between the foot and the leather outsole, absorbing shock without compromising the boot's resolable construction. Roman acknowledges that footwear alone cannot cure medical conditions, but he emphasizes the difference it can make: "Changing your boots out is probably not going to solve back discomfort overnight, but 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 impressions in both the comfort insole and the leather footbed, reducing micro-movements needed for balance. This personalized fit means the boots improve with wear, rather than peaking on day one. The company's YouTube channel provides cross-section videos demonstrating the interior construction, including stacked leather heel, leather heel counter, and channel-welted construction, ensuring transparency about what's inside.
Chisos boots are available at chisos.com and at the company's Austin store at 3507 S 1st St. Founded in 2019 and named for the Chisos Mountains in Big Bend National Park, the company produces small-batch, hand-lasted boots using traditional Goodyear welt construction and vegetable-tanned leather components. A portion of every sale supports Texas land conservation. For more information, visit https://chisos.com.
