An ankle-height boot, usually with two or three pairs of lace eyelets.
Crockett & Jones defines the chukka by its pattern: three pieces of outer material, an inside quarter, an outside quarter and a vamp, with a low-cut leg that still rises above the ankle and two to three eyelets. The V&A’s “Soho” chukka boots by Oliver Sweeney, from 1998, show the type in brown leather, with three pairs of metal eyelets and a blue leather lining.
The name describes a cut, not a material. Crockett & Jones writes of “a Chukka boot (or Desert boot)”, giving both names the same three-piece description. The desert boot is traditionally the version in suede on a crepe rubber sole, after the Clarks design launched in 1950, while a chukka may be made in other leathers and lined, like the Oliver Sweeney pair. Unlike the Chelsea boot, which has elastic sides, the chukka closes with laces.
In job listings
Chukka is a style name, used in collections and product copy rather than in job titles. Making such boots falls to shoemaking roles: footwear cutters, upper preparation and edging, production operators, and made-to-order workshops, where a bootmaker designs and makes individual pairs. See current shoemaking roles.
