It was a crisp autumn Friday morning. The sun was shining blissfully through the red-tinted oak leaves, while a single starling swooped through the sky as if to welcome a new month. all of a sudden, an Instagram notification rolls in letting me know that Justin Bieber has just uploaded a new photo onto his feed. Without thinking too much about it, I tap the alert and I’m presented with a easy photo that show’s Bieber’s pool with a pair of dynamic orange Crocs floating on top.
I slide my phone away to delight in the view once more, and as soon as I lift up my mug of coffee, I get another notification from Apple’s news app informing me that Crocs’ stock has jumped by as much as 11% solely because of Biebs’ photo. While this may sound insane, I honestly wasn’t too surprised. Γιατί; because Crocs are back and there’s absolutely nothing you can do about it.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past two decades, you’d know who Crocs are. founded by Lyndon “Duke” Hanson and George Boedecker Jr. all the way back in 2002, they came up with the idea of creating a boating shoe that was crafted from a single piece of EVA foam. When the clog made its initial debut, only 200 pairs were made and they sold out pretty much in an instant. Now, the Colorado-based brand sells hundreds of millions every single year.
With that said, Crocs saw a massive decline six years later when people finally began to realise how unsightly the shoes actually were. It’s crazy to think that it took people this long to come to this conclusion, but the 2008 recession also played a massive role in this reduction in sales, because at the end of the day, a pair of neon pink Crocs was the last thing on anyone’s mind when the entire world was collapsing under their feet.
Crocs tried to increase their numbers by opening much more brick-and-mortar stores across the globe. From 2010 to 2013, they practically doubled their amount of shops from 378 to 619 according to Monex, but it soon became very clear that this method of expansion just wasn’t sustainable, and they subsequently had to shutter various of branches within the space of λίγους μήνες.
It’s safe to say that it was a pretty difficult few years for the brand. In July 2014, the company announced a restructuring plan that slashed hundreds of jobs and scrapped a ton of underperforming product lines. This was a dismal period of time for Crocs, however, there was a light at the end of the tunnel.
Image through Crocs
Now, we don’t want to say that the chunky sneaker trend had anything to finish with Crocs making a major comeback, but we think that it played a massive role in this. Back in 2017, Raf Simons unveiled a whole slew of colourways for his adidas Ozweego collaboration. At the same time, Kanye West took the wraps off the Yeezy 700 “Wave Runner” which subsequently changed the sneaker game forever. unsightly shoes were back and they weren’t going anywhere, and whether or not it was simply a coincidence, the hype for Crocs was stronger than ever.
In the summer of 2017, Crocs was noted as the 13th many popular footwear brand according to a survey by investment bank Piper Jaffray. This grew by seventeen places compared to the previous year, and was swiftly followed by a share increase of over 30%, giving it a value of $1.6 billion.
Around this time, CNBC held a study that found that this crazy growth was mostly attributed to young girls. In a series of short interviews conducted by the news network, it became obvious that a lot of teenagers were purchasing Crocs simply because they attracted a lot of attention. This was also helped with the brand’s Jibbitz feature that allowed wearers to fully customise their pairs with distinct accessories that snapped into the holes of the shoes. While this may sound a little childish to some, Scottish fashion designer Christopher Kane completely took advantage of this during London fashion Week by debuting a pair of marble clogs that were accompanied with a series of crystal geode Jibbitz.
Not long thereafter, Balenciaga created a ten inch platform version for their Spring/Summer 2018 runway showcase which retailed for around £700 – an increase of about 1,200%. It became very clear that Crocs were no longer a joke. They were a highly sought after item that could be worn by both grandads and supermodels. In fact, this is one of the main reasons why the father shoe fad became so popular. inspired by silhouette of the past such as the adidas Lexicon and the Nike Air Monarch, people began to fully embrace the ugly, and there was literally no turning back.
While 2020 has been a bit of a shambles for everyone, it’s been the complete opposite for the crocodile-inspired label. Kicking the year off by tapping Priyanka Chopra as their global brand ambassador, they also collaborated with tonnes of hyped brands and designers including but not limited to BEAMS, liberty London, Peeps, and of course,KFC, η οποία συνέχισε να γίνεται μια αίσθηση Ultra ιών. Όχι μόνο ήταν στυλ μετά από τον οικογενειακό κάδο fanavourite, ήρθε επίσης με την αρχική συνταγή jibbitz που μουρμούρισε ακριβώς όπως το τηγανισμένο κοτόπουλο. Ενώ αυτό πραγματικά ακούγεται αρκετά αηδιαστικό σε χαρτί, η καινοτομία του είναι ακριβώς γιατί ο Crocs συνεχίζει την άνοδό της προς την παγκόσμια κυριαρχία. Ενώ οι ανταγωνιστές παίζουν το Save με την απελευθέρωση φορητών χρωμάτων, αυτή η μάρκα γνωρίζει τι χρειάζεται για να προσελκύσει πολύ περισσότερους και πολύ περισσότερους πελάτες.
Εικόνα μέσω KFC
Φυσικά, με την τρέχουσα πανδημία που καταστρέφει τον κόσμο, όλοι αξίζουν λίγη άνεση, ενώ ξοδεύουν το μεγαλύτερο μέρος του χρόνου τους στο σπίτι. Από τον Απρίλιο έως τον Μάιο του τρέχοντος έτους, οι αναζητήσεις για τους Crocs αυξήθηκαν κατά 71%. Σε ένα κομμάτι από την Elle, η δημοσίευση μίλησε με τη Danielle Johnson, μηχανικό δεδομένων από την Καλιφόρνια, ο οποίος ανήκει στους Crocs επειδή το 2016 αλλά πήγε λίγο άγριο κατά τη διάρκεια της καραντίνας. “Έχω εσωτερικούς κροκίστρους, υπαίθριους κροτίδες”, και επίσης ένα επιπλέον ζευγάρι για να αντικαταστήσει αυτά που ο σύντροφός της κλέβει από το ντουλάπι της.
Όλα αυτά μας οδηγούν τώρα. Καθώς το Justin Bieber X Crocs Preps για την απελευθέρωση, κάθε μάρκα έξω εκεί είναι έτοιμο για τα δικά τους φράγματα για τις μάζες. Από τη συλλογή Stüssy X Birkenstock μέχρι τον περίφημο δρομέα αφρού του Kanye West, η Adidas έχει τώρα εξαπολύσει και τα φράγματα Adilette.
Μόλις ονομάζεται μία από τις “χειρότερες εφευρέσεις” που έγινε ποτέ από το περιοδικό Time, ο Crocs χτυπάει πίσω και δεν είναι καν τρελοί. Όπως ο μετά τον Malone είπε προσεκτικά προσεκτικά:
