How Crocs Went From Comfy To Cool as F-ck
From Balenciaga to Bembury, it’s clear that fashion has officially adopted the comfy clog as one of its own. But how did we get here?
Crocs are officially cool as f-ck. For some of us, this seemingly lesser-known fact has actually been true for a few years now, but for others, it’s only just starting to sink in. Yes, there was a time when the trypophobia-inducing silhouettes were reserved only for kitchens and hospitals, but those days? They’re long gone.
Now, the comfy, cozy, slip-on shoes have become a more-than-acceptable counterpart to any outfit and it’s thanks – in part – to some of the biggest names in fashion.
Despite Crocs beginning in 2002, it wasn’t until 2017 that fashion started to experiment. Christopher Kane kicked off the collaboration train in 2016, followed by the release of Balenciaga‘s Platform Crocs the following year. The Demna-led brand began with a bright pink colorway, then opted for a more neutral black iteration a few months later, kicking off a partnership of new colorways and styles that instantly changed fashion’s perception of the not-so-fashionable shoe.
Enter the pandemic. During this time, we watched our love for comfort increase tenfold, paving the way for more ugly-comfy shoes to shine because ultimately, who cares what we’re wearing when we’re in the comfort of our own homes? After all, if you couldn’t see it on a Zoom call, it wasn’t really there.
In that same year, Nicole McLaughlin, a lauded designer and upcycler, chose Crocs for her first-ever collaboration. Leaning into the brand’s traditionally “ugly” aesthetic and giving it a sustainable spin, McLaughlin also teamed up with Crocs for a second time just a few months later. Not long after, names like Bad Bunny and Justin Bieber began jumping on the clog hype, launching their own collaborations that same year.
In 2021, streetwear entered the chat and Palace announced its first collaboration with Crocs, which has since continued to evolve – culminating in three total team-ups. Off the back of that, we saw Salehe Bembury lend his wavy hand to the classic clog silhouette, sparking an official appointment for Bembury as creative director of the Crocs Pollex Clog range, in 2023.
This also paved the way for Crocs to experiment with similar silhouettes outside of its collaborations, resulting in exaggerated platforms and its Mega Crush range, which launched in 2023.
Overall, 2023 was perhaps the brand’s most transformative year, with ongoing collaborations with Balenciaga, Palace and Bembury continuing to soar, introducing new silhouettes and styles alongside new launches with Levi’s, Aries and JJJJound. It was also 2023 that blessed us with one tongue-in-cheek team-up that arguably put Crocs on the map like never before. Teaming up with creative studio MSCHF, the duo unveiled their Big Yellow Boots at Paris Fashion Week, following up with an official campaign starring Paris Hilton.
Off the back of that, another luxury label sought to redefine the public perception of Crocs once and for all: Simone Rocha. Debuting its first collaboration with the household name during London Fashion Week, the glitzy, pearl-encrusted result has now become one of Crocs’ most notable and successful collaborations of all time and one that the brands have continued to revisit. Closing out a pretty transformative year, Crocs experimented with the Western aesthetic trend, debuting a new cowboy boot silhouette alongside tapping up Lil Nas X as a global brand ambassador.
Kicking off 2024 in style, Crocs doubled down on its playful collaborations and nostalgia-driven designs, launching collabs with the likes of Hello Kitty and Spongebob SquarePants, proving that despite its newfound status in the world of fashion, its fun-loving roots will never be lost.
The remainder of the year saw Crocs revisiting its collaboration with Rocha, plus teaming up with emerging footwear designer Ancuta Sarca. Along with its collaborations, Crocs dropped clogs for dogs and continued to experiment with new silhouettes like its Platform Stomp Loafers.
@hypebae The new #crocs ♬ original sound – HYPEBEAST
Essentially, what started out as a comfort-oriented silhouette has since become a blank canvas for brand self-expression, allowing each collaboration to totally reinvent the shoe through new materials, platforms, Jibbitz and colorways. Its rise and success is, in part due to our newfound love of comfort, but also due to a delicate balance of innovative brand collaborations and experimental in-line launches.
That said, whether you’re still a kitchen-only Croc-er, a TV lover or a full-blown Simone Rocha fan girl, there’s a Croc in style for you, and our guess is, they’ll keep ‘em coming.
