Commentary August 01, 2025
Chili’s & Tecovas Collaborate on ‘Booth Boots’ Made From Same Material as Restaurant Booths
The co-branded line of belts and boots, which sold out quickly, is a fun spin on using touch to evoke a brand aesthetic.
Key Takeaways
• Tecovas and Chili’s collaborated on a unique promotional campaign that emphasizes sensory experience by using the same red vinyl material as Chili’s booths to craft limited-edition cowboy boots.
• The boots feature Chili’s branding elements like chili pepper motifs and logos, reinforcing the authenticity and playful nature of the co-branded product
• The partnership benefits both brands – Tecovas gains mass appeal through Chili’s recognition, while Chili’s elevates its image by aligning with a premium leather goods brand.
Think about your favorite restaurant. It’s probably not just the sights that come to mind, right? Your sense memories are full of the smells, the tastes, the sounds of mingling and clinking glasses, the feel of the leather booth.
A good promotional campaign evokes more sense than just a good look to tell a brand’s full story and capture its identity. And that’s exactly what Tecovas, a supplier of leather goods like cowboy boots and belts, is doing with a line made from the same leather as Chili’s booths. They feature a chili pepper motif and sewn-on logo in the toe, along with “Chili’s x Tecovas” printed on the inside of the boot.
“Handcrafted with all the quality you expect from a Tecovas dress boot and wrapped in 100% genuine Chili’s booth material – these two are bound to be a pair of regulars,” the Tecovas site says. “But act fast, supplies are extremely limited and we’re not taking reservations.”
That part is true. According to Primetimer, the boots, which went on sale on July 29 for $345, sold out fast.
Materials Matter
Let’s get one thing straight: These boots weren’t made from cannibalized Chili’s locations. And there’s no risk of any leftover food that slipped between the cushions ending up in your shoe. Jesse Johnson, vice president of marketing for Chili’s, told USA Today that the boots are simply made from red vinyl, the same material used for Chili’s booths.
This doesn’t, however, take away from the authenticity of it all. With the logo placement and chili pepper designs throughout, there’s no mistaking that this is a collaborative effort between two brands.
Tecovas and Chili’s relied on feel, rather than sight or even taste for a restaurant campaign.
These same concepts can apply across other product categories like apparel and packaging, where touch is part of the customer experience and creates a long-lasting impression.
The Power of Co-Branding
From both companies’ perspectives, this is a good use of co-branding and reaching another set of potential customers. Tecovas uses a well-known restaurant chain for wide appeal, and there’s a fun tongue-in-cheek aspect of it all.
Chili’s, too, gets to borrow Tecovas’ credibility as a well-known supplier of leather goods, and it bumps the reputation of a chain restaurant up a little bit to have such a high-end and pricey promotional product when one might expect something like T-shirts or other simpler choices.