British brand Hunter has transitioned in recent years from complete dedication to functional rubber boots to mattering on fashion runways, and has done so largely under the creative directorship of Alasdhair Willis-the distinguished gentleman brand-builder who happens to be wedded to Stella McCartney.

On the phone, Willis told us everything began to change for Hunter when Kate Moss wore Hunter Wellies to Glastonbury in 2005. Fashion capital accrued henceforth.

We talked about the struggle of emphasizing heritage while avoiding calcification, how Blitz Magazine saved a young Willis' life-and we finally learned once and for all who made the first wetsuits (spoiler: it was Hunter).

Shop: Hunter

Related: Hunter's spring '16 collection

Nordstrom blogs: You've referred to the Hunter brand with the term "progressive heritage." Is that not an oxymoron? Willis behind the scenes of the Hunter Fall/Winter '15 photoshoot What was so progressive about Hunter back in the day?

Alasdhair Willis: It is, but it still fundamentally describes what we're trying to achieve with this brand. We have 160 years of heritage, of which we're incredibly proud. But I say progressive because I don't want our customers to think of us as a purely heritage brand. I want to harness the spirit of creativity our founders had when they created Hunter. They were great innovators in their time. One of the biggest failures of many heritage brands is the fact that they rely too heavily on the past to sell the brand today.

Always interesting when a brand branches off another industry. Like how Saab cars came from airplanes. Image from London Fashion Week When I look at Hunter for fall 15, what stands out is the Wind Cheater waterproof jacket, where I can see a striking Stella McCartney design influence....

They were the first people to make fully waterproof rubber footwear. They took a vulcanized manufacturing technique-which was being used by the automotive industry, albeit in the early stages-and started creating footwear. First waterproof footwear.

What do we need to know about Hunter's newer, non-boot items?

Absolutely. And Hunter, while nobody would be aware of it and we didn't make a business of it so that's why you wouldn't be aware, Hunter made some of the first wetsuits. We made some of the first waterproof boots for sailors, and then we dovetailed into wetsuits. We didn't continue with that, but it's more innovation. My job is to look at history like that and see how it could inform the brand today, how we could use it move into new sectors.

...and not gatherer.

[chuckling]

How do you think an American customer regards Hunter differently from, say, a European customer? Image from London Fashion Week What was it that made you say yes to Hunter when they asked you to be Creative Director?

Well, first of all as we develop the business beyond a rubber footwear business and expand into other realms, it's important that you don't destroy the DNA of the business. I felt it very important that the materiality what we make, the touch of the material, really reflect what we're known for. The touch and feel of the product is really important. As we move into new categories witih authenticity and legitimacy, we need to keep that consistent. And when you talk about the aesthetic of Hunter, it's interesting, people tend to make very male, masculine associations, maybe because the word is hunter...

What was it about your upbringing that primed you care so much about public image?

Exactly. The brand itself has a predominant female customer base. But the DNA and heritage of the brand is masculine. So it's important that there's a bit of the masculine in what we do. But when it's appropriated for the female customer she looks really great in it. The design and the aesthetic is drawn from the masculine history of the brand.

Which magazines?

That's something we as a business are working on in terms of how we try and connect the brand globally. Because in the UK our history is far more well known than in other places, we've been known mainly as a utility footwear business. If it was muddy and wet, and you were going out in the counties of England, you needed Hunter boots. If you were going to spend a weekend with friends in the country you wore your Hunter boots. It was very much a product people bought for those conditions. In America it's very different, it's been a fashion purchase and always has been. So that's the fundamental difference. However in the UK things have been changing and it's getting to be more about style. That changed in 2005 when Kate Moss wore them, clearly as a fashion statement rather than a purely functional statement when she was at the Glastonbury Music Festival. You can really chart a change from then onwards.

I've been asked to be closely associated with a number of brands. This job had come up in the past. I'd been reluctant. Hunter felt different. Hunter, first of all, was a brand I knew all my life. It was a boot I wore as a kid growing up in North Yorkshire, England. My sisters wore it when they you were young; they were very keen on horses. So there was a familiarity there. And also, Hunter has this thing which brands spend a lot of money trying to get and sometimes never get, which is this strong emotional connection people have with it. Everyone talks with incredible warmth about their experiences while wearing Hunter. At a music festival, at a wedding, delivering a newborn. That's huge for a mutichannel business, if you can tap into that right away. Also it was clear to me what Hunter could be. We were a single product company. Everything relying on a single boot. I couldn't understand how previously noone involved with the brand was exploiting the opportunity to go on from there. I saw a clear possibility for growth with a brand that had a strong identity.

What is the highlight of your personal art collection?

Well I grew up in North Yorkshire, northeast of England, geographically quite disconnected from where I thought the action was. I lived through magazines. I had magazines brought over from London and had a whole life through them. Great images. I always had this belief and vision that I'd be involved somehow in either magazines, or art, or fashion.

With all that time spent looking at magazines, was there a moment when you said, Hey, I'm in these magazines now! I made it!

Let's see: i-D, Dazed, Arena, all the well-known fashion magazines-and there was a really, really important independent magazine called Blitz.

That might be a British quality you have there, that modestly.

They were my link to where I believed everything was happening. I think it was an escape. Not that my upbringing was in any way... I love my upbringing. But I always longed to be somewhere else. And my father has always been and still is a very sartorially well-dressed individual. I felt a level of elegance from him. That was a reason for me wanting to move into that world, too. I always say the foundation for everything is art. I went to art school. I love art and sculpture. I use that as a foundation for a lot of what I do.

Images courtesy Hunter

My collection is very, very, very, very varied. I really just play at collecting. I buy what I genuinely love. There's an artist, one of the greatest draftsmen, called Hans Bellmer. I have a number of his pieces and absolutely adore his work.

I never think I made it, I'm in it, I'm part of it. I don't ever feel like I'm part of the group, the clique, the scene. Even now when I'm asked to do an interview or someone wants to shoot me I'm taken aback.

Maybe true, but I want to maintain that. I think if I got caught up in feeling successful, I might lose my energy, edge, enthusiasm for what I do. Because I love what I do. When I approach a project like Hunter, I throw my whole self into it.

-Andrew Matson