Koio Trento Boot Review | Why It’s An Underrated Chelsea

Since the Big Work-From-Home Upset of 2020, our style and fashion choices have adapted to a more casual palette. Three-piece suits and oxford shoes are no longer required in daily life, replaced with more casual alternatives like polo shirts, khaki chinos, and even boots. But I want a boot that dresses up for the office as easily as I can wear it with jeans. Out of many options, I narrowed my top pick for Chelsea boots to the Koio Trento Boot. During my testing, while writing this Koio Trento review, I kept finding myself wearing this superbly sleek boot day after day, whatever the situation calls for.

The Trento has a streamlined, minimalistic design, perfect for dressing up or down.  It comes in three different leather options, all sustainably produced: a cream suede (“Cardamom”), a brown suede (“Root”), and one made from black cowhide. Out of the three, the black version pairs perfectly with a jacket or even a suit, while the other two would look better with business casual vibes — that said, I’ve rocked mine in a t-shirt-and-leather-jacket combo that I think looked awesome.

Meet one of my favorite Chelsea boots on the market, that’s just as durable but lighter and more flexible than competitors. Read on to learn why.

Editors Note: The Discount Code in the video is expired

Highlights for the Koio Trento 

For those in a hurry, here is a quick breakdown of the Koio Trento’s pros and cons.

Pros

• Flexible lightweight construction
• Sleek profile; no chunky welt stitching
• Comfy leather soles
• Sustainably made
• You can get a cobbler to resole them

Cons

• No half sizes or wide widths
• The untreated suede is not very stain-proof
• Not the most rugged boot 

About Koio

Koio is a direct-to-consumer brand that started in 2014 and proudly makes all of its footwear in Italy — even the shoebox. (‘Koio’ is a play on the Italian word for cow leather, cuoio.) Forty-two different artisans inspect each shoe before the final pre-shipping inspection to ensure perfection. That’s an immense amount of quality control.

I consider their flagship Capri sneaker the best white sneaker on the market, but I wasn’t a fan of their first line of boots. After a couple of years of refining the look, though, they came out with two Chelseas I was very interested in trying. You can read the rugged Fermo review here or read on for our look at the Trento.

How To Wear The Trento 

While the Fermo is their more rugged boot, the Trento is a more commuter-friendly city boot — and it does the job extremely well. The suede colorways match well with jeans and a t-shirt or business casual looks, while the smooth black option is sleek enough to wear with a suit or sport coat sans tie. 

This boot just does minimalism well: it’s not gaudy or splashy. It simply knows how to execute the fundamentals of a great boot.

One way it stands out in the market is its Blake stitch construction. Most trendy boots are Goodyear welted, a great way to make a boot resoleable and water resistant. But this comes with the cost of making a heavier, less flexible boot than many may prefer.

The Blake stitched Koios is lighter and more flexible than their welted counterparts but are still resoleable and reasonably water resistant. You wouldn’t take them into a rainstorm, but they’re perfectly functional and the Blake stitch makes for a much sleeker look than a Goodyear welted boot, which tends to have chunkier stitching running around its perimeter.

This slim construction is a big part of why the Trento can be easily dressed up if you desire.

[Further Reading: The 11 Best Chelsea Boots On the Market]

Leather

• 3 colorways: Cardamon (light beige suede), Root (dark brown suede), Black (cowhide) 
• Lined with LWG silver certified calfskin 
• Certified by Leather Working Group 
• No toxic waste products released
• Tanned in Italy 

Koio has one of the more sustainable approaches to leather in the entire boot market, only buying leather from Italian tanneries that the Leather Working Group has audited. 

For context, chrome tanned leather is the most popular on Earth. This process has a reputation for making dangerous runoff, and for good reason. Chromium 6 is a byproduct of cheap and poorly regulated chrome tanning practices, leading to ecological destruction and harm to tannery workers. A wealth of research from India’s leather capital, Kanpur, shows contamination of surrounding waterways two years after some tanneries closed. Many former workers have been diagnosed with cancer and skin conditions. 

But chrome tanning doesn’t have to have negative environmental effects, and The Leather Working Group sends specialized officers to visit tanneries to make sure tanneriers don’t release harmful Chromium 6 pollutants into the environment or workers.

Plenty of unethical tanneries operate around the world. But when you buy a shoe or boot from Koio, you can trust that the tanneries they partner with are doing their part to keep the environment and their workers safe. 

Just note that the suede comes untreated. If you fear stains, spray it with a protector like Tarragon Nanospray, or add Koio’s to the cart when you’re shopping.

Construction

• Blake stitched
• Tightly stitched for water resistance
• Leather outsole 
• Shock absorbing insole 
• Shank for stability 

The Trento boot is Blake stitched, meaning they use one set of stitches to attach the upper, midsole, and outsole. Bootmakers use this type of construction when they aim to create a boot with a sleeker profile: notice there is no shelf protruding from the vamp where the uppers meet the outsole. This is all due to the Blake stitch construction, which allows the bootmaker to stitch from the inside of the shoe without adding bulk to the boot’s perimeter. 

Why Blake Stitched Boots Are Actually Pretty Great 

Sometimes, Blake stitches get a bad reputation because of misconceptions surrounding this construction method. There’s a belief that they lack water resistance compared with Goodyear-welted boots. While this is true to some degree, Koio’s Trento has a high stitch density to maximize water resistance. I have worn my black Trentos in light rain, and the water resistance was more than adequate.

Another misconception is that Blake stitched boots are not resoleable, which is 100% false: Blake stitched footwear is as resoleable as Goodyear welted or Stitchdown boots. You just need to call ahead to make sure the cobbler has the right equipment since it’s a hair less likely they will.

Blake stitched boots are one of the most comfortable boots on the market because of their flexibility and light weight. The break-in process is almost always less intensive than that of a Goodyear welted boot, and all of these elements make for a more comfortable boot that many guys actually prefer over welted footwear. Their initial comfort is unparalleled and let’s face it, no one is really wearing dressy shoes or boots to stomp in puddles anyway. 

The rest of this boot’s construction includes a leather-overlay cushioned insole for shock absorption, a shank for stability (a must for heeled boots), a leather midsole, and a leather outsole. 

Why Are Leather Soles Are Pretty Great 

Some guys who like having a rugged wardrobe may not like the idea of leather soles because they lack traction out of the box. Within a few days, however, wear marks on the sole dramatically improve the grip. In a few months, the thick hide will have started to conform to the shape of your feet, making them very comfortable. Relative to rubber soles, leather soles mold to the foot better and are more lightweight, flexible, and breathable. (They’re also a lot more fun to dance in)

Koio Trento Price

• $365

Koio’s Trento costs $365. Koio fairly priced this boot: I’d be upset if it were over $400. Under $350, I’d be impressed, but $365 is fair.

It is important to remember that you’re paying for a resoleable product made by an ethical company working with ethical tanneries to produce a shoe in Italy, using audited Italian materials to prove sustainable manufacturing processes.

If you know the market as well as I do, you’ll be fine with the price.

Koio Trento Sizing

• Order your true size (get measured in a shoe store if you don’t know it)
• No half sizes; size up if you need to

The Koio Trentos only come in full sizes. If you are in between sizes, Koio advises sizing up to the nearest whole size. I am usually an 11.5 but I sized down to an 12 and it works.

The biggest downside with this model is the lack of half sizes and wide widths, and I hope they’ll offer more variety in the future. For now, though, I have no complaints about the fit of my boots. They grip the heel securely, and the feeling of a Blake stitched boot is a lot easier on the foot than Goodyear welted.

The Takeaway

The Trento boot definitely makes it easy to navigate the ever-increasing blurred lines between casual and officewear. The sleek Trento makes it an ideal in-between boot that guys can wear in the office with a suit or with jeans on the street. 

It’s more for the city than for the farm. But, in a world where too many Brands overbuild city boots for circumstances they’ll never meet, thereby reducing their comfort, the Trento is an absolute winner for casual and dressy wear.

Where are Koio boots made?

Koio makes all of their footwear in Italy.

Is the Koio Trento true to size?

Yes. Get your true to size Brannock size. If you are in between sizes, round down.

Are the Trento Chelsea Boots Blake Stitched or Goodyear welted?

The Trentos are Blake Stitched.