The chunky, bulbous footwear which has been a heavy topic of debate, consistently existing at a controversial point of love and hate, is now cycling back into the trends. Crocs, the porous foam clogs that are often splashed with crayon-colored hues and highly customizable with Jibbitz, have recently become one of the year’s hottest shoes. 

The brand has strategically collaborated with popular celebrities and brands, situating itself back into discourse. For example, Crocs has collaborated with Justin Bieber and his brand Drew House, designing a lavender Classic Clog with Jibbitz charms of characters from the brand. Post Malone has also contributed to the collaboration, teaming up with the footwear brand for the fifth time since 2018. His latest collection, Post Malone x Crocs Duet Max Clog II, included a pink and black colorway of crocs with Jibbitz charms like grapes and hearts, mostly inspired from his own tattoos. The brand had then furthermore launched a collaboration with fast food chains like KFC, where they came up with drumstick Jibbitz that actually smell like chicken!

While we may associate the Crocs revolution to be a more recent phenomena, the whole makeover was already kicking off back in 2016 when the British designer Christopher Kane made the first ever collaboration with the brand.

The Christopher Kane SS17 Crocs collaboration featured Crocs’ classic clog in earthy marble prints, with the holes all ornamented with chunky gem Jibbitz. Having the models in his runway show wear these special Crocs designed exclusively for the collaboration, Kane wanted to bring the everyday style into the luxury space. Michelle Poole–the current president of Crocs–recalls Kane’s runway show in an interview with GQ –“‘We were watching the show live,’ Poole says, ‘and we saw the audience looking at the models, and then suddenly everyone’s gaze dropped to the floor.’” From then on, Crocs have been picked up by the fashion industry, marking the start of the current Crocs craze. 

In 2017, its collaboration with Balenciaga brought the biggest dramatic makeover to the whole brand. It not only brought Crocs to make its name in the luxury space but also directed the brand to experiment with new silhouettes.

Since then, we saw the brand experimenting with and introducing new styles like the bolder, chunkier “Classic Crush Sandal” and the feet-melting “Mellow Slides.” Unlike all the collaboration with the high-fashion houses, these newly introduced styles now feel more readily available and suitable for the average shopper.

Still, behind all the sensational buzz of the brand with the high-fashion and celebrity collaborations, Crocs’ continued belief in its pop of color, interesting shape, and power of weirdness are all the most important in its resurgence to the fashion space. The idea of embracing comfort and simplicity by sticking to the brand’s iconic childlike shape but exciting and fun concept with charms is what had brought the chunky clog to fashion’s favorite comfort slip-on. And Crocs does not intend to just stop there. The brand continues to push the craze momentum by being bold and going beyond the silhouettes of clogs and sandals, while also valuing its characteristic of versatility and allowing us to personalize and be expressive on its blank canvas. And most importantly, no matter how many collaborations the brand makes in its future, Crocs always want everybody to be comfortable in their own shoes.