Summer is here and Crocs has a new, most unlikeable holey shoes.
How unlike? Well, the famously ugly shoe was praised by GQ magazine:
It’s Crocs’ best style, and it’s even close to elegant.
The new Crocs, called Dylan Clog, has no heel strap, no iconic holes, only the logo on the upper reveals its identity in a low-profile way, minimalist and neutral, naturally unadorned.
Its design is big on references to the classic leather mule shoe, inheriting the soul of the classic style while retaining its own personality.
The most important feature of the Muller shoe is the design that reveals the heel. This convenient and elegant ‘one-step’ is suitable for lazy people and leaves room for fashion. In addition to Crocs, Adidas and the old German sandal Birkenstock also have similar slipper items.
The difference is that the Dylan Clog is molded in one piece from the brand’s exclusive Croslite material, and although the material is not leather, the surface pattern mimics the texture.
Showing off your heels in the summer has long been a popular trend, and it’s not just in sandals. Balenciaga’s Triple S sneakers and Salomon’s co-branded XT-4 sneakers have also made their heels ‘disappear’.
Among so many “Guan Guan Class Qing”, Dylan Clog is a cheap one, it was on the official website on June 12, priced at $55, with a total of four colors: black, dark curry, light brown, and cement grey. The Clog is also available at the flagship store of Sobo, named “Cricket Shoes”.
“Another chef shoe from Crocs” is what netizens call Dylan Clog.
This is because Crocs has launched a number of styles for “foot workers”, including “chef’s shoes” specially designed for the food service industry, featuring anti-odor, non-slip, easy to clean and closed toe.
The Dylan Clog has already made a splash on Instagram during the warm-up period before it hit the shelves. Fashion is like a story written by a novelist; when it comes down to it, there are a thousand interpretations that don’t always match up with the creator’s intentions.
Some say Dylan Clog is the embodiment of the Clean Fit style, which is accessible to the public, fits well, and is visually clean.
Others say the Dylan Clog is French effortless chic, where you have to be effortless to look classy.
For individuals, it’s just another appropriate choice for the rainy season in the south.
There’s a saying that once you’ve tried going out in flip-flops, you’re set for life.
In Guangdong, sturdy flip-flops may be the most authentic choice, but holey shoes, as a category that looks and feels like flip-flops, will always have a place in the nation’s summer.
What remains constant, however, is the safety rule of “don’t ride the escalator with your shoes in holes”.
The Dylan Clog wasn’t the first “holey shoe” without holes, but it was a much more radical change, cutting out almost every possible decoration.
Other Crocs shoes are also moving away from the most traditional styles, such as the Bayaband Flip Slipper and Classic Crocs Slide Slipper, which are missing some of the classic elements of the cavernous shoe.
The Fingerprint Sneaker, created in collaboration with designer Salehe Bembury, is another example of Crocs breaking new ground, and it’s the first time Crocs has allowed a collaborating designer to radically change the look of a holey shoe.
But Crocs has made such a strong impression that it has evolved to the point where, no matter how much it’s cut down, you can recognize what it is by looking at it. Similarly, UGG, which also belongs to the “ugly shoe” coordinate system, is actually based on a core silhouette.
This reminds me of the philosophy espoused by outdoor clothing brand Patagonia:
The ultimate mark of perfection is not that one can’t add anything more, but that one can’t take anything away.
Crocs, in turn, can add elements, leaving the product as a canvas for outside reinvention, without losing its original flavor.
An example of this is the DIY trend that has taken off in recent years. Dazzling Jibbitz, or pearls, rhinestones, and chains for advanced players have allowed for unlimited creativity on the uppers, and have even led to the development of a “hole in the door” with many followers, growing a community culture like that of a trendy brand.
TikTok’s #croctok (an abbreviation of Crocs and TikTok) has been viewed more than 440 million times. Domestic ‘holegate’ scale expansion has also been steady, with more than 200,000 posts about holey shoes on Weibo, Xiaohongshu, and Jieyin in the last three months to mid-May.
Crocs co-branding is even more numerous, fried chicken flavored hole shoes this brain category, every now and then let a person in front of the eyes of a black, never lack of topic degree, but in the trend world the most out of the circle, belongs to the co-branding of it and the Paris family.
Thick-soled cavernous shoes for spring/summer 2018, high-heeled cavernous shoes and high-top boots for spring/summer 2022, a pair of sword than a pair of radical. Not only that, but Balenciaga also made the bag look like a plastic loafer, completely assimilated by Crocs’ style.
In a way, Crocs is like Cappy of the Stars, devouring everything, but not being changed by anything else.
No one knows what it’s like to be in love with fashion better than Crocs.
Going back more than 20 years, fashion is by no means the reason why the world of cavernous shoes was born.
Crocs first made its mark as a boating slipper, when some people already thought it was hideous, and the founder, who was down to shout about it himself, didn’t mind and just invited them to try it on.
After all, comfort is Crocs’ main selling point. Because of the lightweight, easy to clean, non-slip, easy to put on and take off, standing for a long time without getting tired and other characteristics, it gradually expanded from water sports to the home, hospitals, kitchens and other scenes.
Of course, the perception is different, and some people think it’s not comfortable enough to ignore its appearance.
When asked by Vogue, “What’s the one thing you’ll never wear?” When asked by Vogue, singer-songwriter Dua Lipa waved her hand and blurted out “Crocs”, to which the journalist said “me too”.
Over the past few years, the name of ugly shoes has been slowly changing, with DIY culture and co-branding being one of the sparks.
In addition, the epidemic that lasted for several years, and its change in people’s consumer attitudes, can not be ignored. Crocs, Birkenstock, UGG and other brands, because of the trend of comfortable home life, but in the midst of a downturn in the story of success.
In April, Crocs sales on the Tmall platform reached 79,647,300 yuan, an increase of 152.45% over the same period last year.
Often, Crocs is just Crocs, but people’s perception has changed. Christopher Kane, the designer who put Crocs on the runway, said:
I like the fact that they’re a little bit clunky and could be seen as ugly, and there’s something very innocent and childlike about them.
Even the name of ugly shoes is not that important to Crocs, it is its destiny and its fortune to be a “fashion junkie”, said Crocs’ chief marketing officer in an interview in 2022:
We love polarization. We’ve been ugly since 2002, and we have no intention of changing that silhouette.
Black and red is also red, and a serious polarization of public good and bad is not necessarily negative. While not shying away from ugly, the chief marketing officer’s preferred word is ‘unique’.
Crocs previously opened the world’s first energy center store in Shanghai, the store went cement industrial style, but also set up a “hipster must play” ZhiBeiXing area, catching the tide of the cosmopolitan city; but in some foreign cities, it is also playing “ugly is beautiful” slogan, let people think wearing Crocs is a cool thing.
Therefore, it is more important that Crocs chooses to impress consumers from its own aspects, and the victory is won in a posture of flexibility.
Returning to the shoes themselves, taking comfort as the base, charging forward with the name of ugly shoes, and occasionally intersecting with fashion, Crocs has been broadening the track, creating more wearable scenarios, and it is developing into a more comprehensive footwear brand, and there are more moments to be noticed, analyzed, and put under the spotlight.
For example, the co-branded outdoor cavernous shoes, not to mention taking out the garbage to get takeout, it can also be worn on the mountain.
And then there are the fall and winter padded cavernous shoes, which give Crocs more than just a summer monopoly.
Ugly? Yes, Crocs admits it.
However, it’s the subliminalization of the brand as it moves closer and closer to the realm of being worn everywhere and anywhere that has been Crocs’ greatest success.
You hear it everywhere, you see emojis mocking it relentlessly, even Crocs’ chief marketing officer has a finger on the pulse of the model, but you see it on anyone’s feet without a second thought.
No one cares if it’s fashion related or not when they’re wearing it downstairs to walk the dog, take out the trash, or get takeout.