What Are Those?! The Unlikely Rise of Crocs, Clogs, and Slides
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By Stadium Goods |What Are Those?! The Unlikely Rise of Crocs, Clogs, and Slides
We dissect how, when and why these non-traditional footwear options infiltrated the sneaker world.
Matt DeSciora
Trends are the lifeblood of sneakers. For many, myself included, tracing their origins can be as much fun as participating in them. Take the “dad shoe” movement for example. Before shoes with chunky soles and retro details like the adidas Yeezy Boost 700 “Wave Runner” and New Balance 990 were in, everyone was wearing Nike Roshe Runs and other sock sneakers, which are the antithesis of the “dad shoe” look. You could say dad shoes became popular because of sock shoe fatigue.
Other trends’ beginnings aren’t as easily traceable, though, and require a more Sherlock Holmes-esque investigation. The most relevant example happening right now is the Crocs, clogs, and slides wave. No one is sure exactly how, why, or when these sort of casual silhouettes became en vogue, but there are a few possible reasons, chief among them a shift to a more relaxed and comfortable way of dressing since the beginning of the pandemic.
With offices switching to a fully remote or hybrid working environment in the last two years, the need to wear shoes on a daily basis isn’t as strong as it once was. That’s allowed people to get creative—or lax, depending how you look at it—with their footwear choices. No shoe has benefited from this move to a more comfortable way of dressing than Crocs.
Salehe Bembury x Crocs Pollex Clog “Crocodile”
Beloved by healthcare workers, chefs, and others who spend long hours on their feet, Crocs have been around forever, but only recently landed in the good graces of “sneakerheads.” For most of their existence, Crocs have been, frankly, ridiculed by the sneaker community. Some have gone as far as to dismiss them as “chopped off garden shoes.” Or some variation of the sort. But the general perception on Crocs has been changing since 2020. A few timely collaborations with Balenciaga, Post Malone, and most recently, all-star sneaker designer Salehe Bembury, will have that sort of effect on your image.
There isn’t so much as one reason as there are many behind the rise of Crocs. But the same cannot be said about what made the adidas Yeezy Slide and Foam Runner commodities in recent years. Both Yeezys have the backing of the one-man hype machine known as Kanye West.
Introduced in 2019 and 2020, respectively, the Yeezy Slide and Yeezy Foam Runner were the first non-sneakers, in the traditional sense, released under Ye’s adidas Yeezy umbrella. The reception around both models was lukewarm in the beginning, but sneaker collectors quickly came around to their, let’s say, unusual, designs over time. Today, both the Yeezy Slide and Yeezy Foam Runner are all over social media, and for good reason. The Slide has been released in dozens of colorways that go with everything, and the Foam Runner is made from sustainable materials, which is a trend within itself.
adidas Yeezy Foam Runner “Vermillion” in Full Family Sizing
Unlike Crocs or the Yeezy Slide and Yeezy Foam Runner, the Birkenstock Boston, a clog shoe, has been a mainstay in fashion circles for years. Brands like Engineered Garments, Aime Leon Dore, and others have styled Birks in their seasonal lookbooks. Birks, particularly the Boston model, have been used in collaborations with brands such as Stussy, as well. Which makes sense, given that all three brands are in favor of a more relaxed way of dressing that lends itself to models like the Boston.
The move to casual footwear like Crocs, clogs and slides is a natural progression from the performance running shoe trend that dominated the culture in the early 2010s, when many collectors were introduced to the New Balance 990 series and Asics Gel-Lyte family for the first time. In need of even more cozy shoes at their disposal, people have turned to footwear that they can easily slip in and out of as trends have evolved over time.
It’s unclear when the slip-on wave will reach a crescendo. But with life returning to some semblance of normalcy, there’s been no shortage of Crocs, clogs, and slides on the timeline. Trends come and go, but there will always be a place in sneaker culture for comfortable shoes.