Maria Munoz Rivera |
Madrid, (EFE).- They were created designed for a fully functional use and intended for nautical work or medical professionals, but rubber clogs step on shoe trends with force every summer, where they gain ground against espadrilles and sandals, reinforced by catwalks and familiar faces.
From the singer Justin Bieber, with his own line of exclusive designs to which he can add pins with different shapes, to luxury brands such as Loewe, Prada or Saint Laurent, all of them make this shoe the favorite for the summer months, despite being called as the reference shoe in the category “ugly shoes” (horrible shoes).
Since 2017, these large, rubber-textured clogs have been knocking on the door of fashion and trends, threatening to enter the back of the wardrobe beyond being the favorite footwear of fashion prescribers and eccentric outfits. Fast fashion and networks confirm that the time has come.
George Boedecker produced them 22 years ago
Since the businessman George Boedecker produced -and sold- two hundred units of this shoe, 22 years have passed. These shoes, designed to withstand several hours on your feet and avoid injuries, have evolved from a purpose intended for a work and utilitarian record to be a fashion flagship.
Inspired by its shape in the traditional clogs and with large holes in the front, the “Crocs”, a pioneering firm and benchmark, find their recipe for success in their composition, as they are made of a special patented resin that, when heated by the body heat, it softens and thus avoids damaging or oppressing the foot.
Their shape is exaggerated, and so is the wide range of colors in which they are produced; from strident tones to other more neutral ones that, in recent years, have joined the customization trend through pins to be set in their holes, in addition to also showing off with socks outside of the summer months.
Although at first they jumped from functionality to the most extravagant fashion and suitable only for prescribers and the most daring, such as Chiara Ferragni, Madonna or Justin Bieber at the time, now these rubber clogs are part of a fashion that is democratizing and hit the streets.
After those responsible for this standardization of this footwear, the multiple collaborations and licenses of the firm. More than sixty between designers and artists, being a pioneer Bieber, whose collection sold out in just two hours, and also the creative director of Balenciaga, Gemna Gvsalia.
Although these two collaborations, according to trend analysts, marked a before and after in the fever for these shoes, there have been many luxury firms that have presented their own shoe adaptations: Saint Laurent or Louis Gabriel Nouchi as well as Balenciaga who In his latest collaborations, he added heels to the footwear.
“Increasingly, the heights are gaining weight in the collection and we can see it in sales, with a noticeable increase in platforms, models that are increasingly in demand by the young public that has the brand”, they indicate from Crocs to EFE about the models booming.
Christopher Kane filled these shoes with rhinestones trying to make a more sophisticated version, while on the internet and fast fashion stores the cool models with small chains, spikes and studs, which coexist with classic models in neutral tones, triumph.
Increasingly present in casual fashion and outside the summer months thanks to models with wider soles that appear with neutral socks, this footwear, although more widely used, continues to be synonymous with avant-garde in its latest versions, which follow a line futuristic that connects with its most striking origins.
“The model that is working best is the Classic Clog in all its versions, both in basic solid colors (navy, black, white or khaki), as well as in prints, especially those that recreate a marble effect,” say Crocs about the shoes. most commercialized models.
Like garments such as overalls or cargo pants, fashion rescues a utilitarian piece and exalts it as part of the avant-garde garments that go from the most daring to the general public.