2024-01-25 10:30:03
The popularity of Clog shoes in the sneaker market in recent years is not unrelated to the rise of Crocs, the giant in the field of footwear. Since the brand’s debut in 2002, humans have been divided into two factions: one is loved for its functionality and comfort It, on the other hand, mercilessly mocks these plastic Clog shoes. Crocs has embraced its polarizing market and tapped into visceral consumer reactions to drive the Clog narrative, with products that represent some of the most creative, radical and individual styles in the footwear game.
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Crocs entered the mainstream through collaborations with unconventional celebrities such as Diplo and Post Malone, then entered the fashion circuit through collaborations with fashion brands such as Christopher Kane and Balenciaga, and further established the market with global cultural icons such as Coca-Cola and McDonald’s. Cognition. From “laughing stock of fashion disasters” to “red must-have items”, the change in Crocs’ brand image has also set off a wave of popularity for Clog shoes.
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Not long ago, the emerging brand BZDZZZ just launched a new Clog style shoe “GOOD SHOES”. The perspective of its manager also reflects the changes in this trend: “The design of this shoe was inspired by my childhood, when society generally could not Clog style shoes are accepted, but the popularity of this type of shoes has increased rapidly in recent years. This phenomenon makes me curious, why did shoes that were once ignored suddenly become fashionable? I can’t provide a clear answer. To unravel this Mystery, I initiated this experiment.”
Essenes Worldwide
Obviously, BZDZZZ is not the first or the only brand to create creative shoes based on Clog. Brands with relatively high public recognition such as Louis Vuitton, JW Anderson, Bottega Veneta, Fear of God, etc. Various Clog shoes of various shapes were brought here, and many new brands are using Clog as a stepping stone to enter the footwear market, such as ESENES WORLDWIDE’s “Boneheads” Clog inspired by the Pokémon character Cara Kara and ROSE IN GOOD FAITH. “Plastic Soul” Clog made from recycled sex toys.
Why do emerging brands invariably choose to use Clog as a breakthrough point to enter the footwear market? How did Clog become the best blueprint for creative shoes? Of course, the Clog craze started by Crocs is one of the indispensable reasons, but in addition, factors at the design, production and market levels are also worthy of our in-depth analysis.
Simple structure liberates design productivity
Jw Anderson
Shoes have always been the category with the highest technical barriers in the fashion industry. From the appearance of the shoes, the choice of last shape, and the technology of mid-to-low outsoles, every step requires professional knowledge reserves. It is unlikely that a newly established street or fashion brand will be equipped with a full-fledged shoe design team. Even if a brand with a shoe-making background and a shoe-based product tries to design a shoe that can stand out in the market, it is definitely not possible. Easy. Norda, a Canadian cross-country running shoe brand founded in 2020, spent 6 months to create a graphene film, which is the basis of its first pair of running shoes 001, and the development of the entire pair of shoes took as long as a year and a half.
The “pattern making” technique commonly used in clothing design has also lost its use in shoe design. Putting aside the exclusive technology of traditional sports shoe brands, even borrowing their appearance designs will still suffer from patent issues. In the face of legal risks, if the imitation traces are too obvious, they will be accused of “plagiarism”. After all, the public is usually more sensitive to the appearance of shoes than to clothing.
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On the other hand, Clog is composed of only a few components such as uppers and soles, and is mostly made of EVA foam materials commonly used in the industry. It lowers the entry barrier for designers to develop shoemaking skills, and almost only requires mastering 3D modeling skills. After completing the design, under the simple basic framework of Clog, the brand can devote more energy to the creative level, whether it is a three-dimensional outline shape or a two-dimensional pattern design.
3D printing democratizes shoemaking
Scry™️
Thanks to the emergence of 3D printing technology, designers can quickly bring concept sketches into reality, and the footwear production process can break the boundaries of appearance, form and design, especially for Clog, which has a simple structure and few (or even many) components. For shoes that are all molded in one piece. Brands no longer have to understand the working mechanism of shoe manufacturing factories, nor do they need to deal with different suppliers. In the past, this information was often monopolized by big brands for a long time.
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Based on the concept of “democratizing sneaker production”, FCTRY LAb, a sports shoe production company founded in 2022 by Omar Bailey, the former head of adidas YEEZY Innovation Lab, and partner Abhishek Som, focuses on assisting the production of brands of all sizes. Provides the latest 3D printing, pattern making, and injection molding technologies to shorten product development time from 8 to 12 months to 1 to 3 months.
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Zellerfeld, another industry pioneer in 3D printing and innovative footwear technology, in addition to helping Heron Preston, AMBUSH®, Louis Vuitton and other brands create 3D printed shoes, also launched its public test platform last year, initially offering 15 exclusive shoes, and New designs from leading brands and emerging designers are added regularly, most of which are Clog. “We want to be the AppStore or YouTube of footwear,” Zellerfeld CEO Cornelius Schmitt told Hypebeast. “There is no minimum order quantity, no upfront investment, and we can send the shoes to them the next day after receiving the design files.”
Clothing scenarios cover a wider customer base
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Compared with running shoes, hiking shoes, basketball shoes and other shoe items with specific segmented functions, Clog is more universal and practical in function. It is lightweight, durable and waterproof, and supports seamless switching from indoor to outdoor. Once considered the shoe of choice for chefs, children and gardening moms, Clog has now become a daily staple for many fashionistas.
From this perspective, it is undoubtedly a wise choice for emerging brands to choose Clog as their first experimental field for footwear products. The wide range of wearing scenarios also means that they can cover a larger audience. Especially in the post-epidemic era, the comfort and practicality of individual products have become the primary consideration criteria for most people, and the advantages of Clog have become increasingly apparent. Through Clog, we continue to test consumer groups’ preferences for their own shoe design styles, and then apply the results to other categories, which may become the subsequent evolution path of these brands’ shoe product lines.
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Rose In Good Faith
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Once considered “ugly” and listed as one of the most controversial footwear in the world, Clog’s existence expresses an ironic, detached, “whatever you want” attitude, narrating a culture that dares to break through traditional aesthetics Self-confidence coincides with the values of today’s cutting-edge brands and pioneering designers. Perhaps this spiritual echo and resonance has more or less contributed to the cooperation between the two parties.
It is not difficult to foresee that as a tool for creative people to empower themselves, exciting ideas will continue to emerge through Clog as a medium of expression. These creativity will jointly build a decentralized and prosperous scene in the footwear field.
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