Rubber clogs, from the ‘horrible shoe’ to the bottom of the closet

They were created for fully functional use and intended for nautical or medical professional work, but rubber clogs hit the footwear trends hard every summer, where espadrilles and sandals are increasingly winning over, reinforced by catwalks and famous faces.

From the singer Justin Bieber, with his own line of exclusive designs to which he can add pins of different shapes, to luxury brands such as Loewe, Prada or Saint Laurent, they all make this shoe a favorite for the summer months, although they call it the benchmark shoe in the “ugly shoes” category.

Since 2017, these large clogs with a rubberized texture have been knocking on doors fashion and trends, which threaten to enter closet floor apart from being the favorite footwear of fashionistas and eccentric combinations. Fast fashion and networks confirm that the time has come.

George Boedecker produced them 22 years ago

Since he is a businessman George Boedecker produced -and sold- two hundred units of this footwear22 years have passed. These shoes, designed to last several hours on the feet and avoid injuries, have evolved from the intended end employment record book and utilitarian to be the flagship of fashion.

Inspired by its traditional shape clogs and with large holes in the front, “Crocs”, a pioneering and reference company, find their recipe for success in their composition, because they are made of proprietary resin especially yes, when it warms up body heatsoftens and thus avoids damage or pressure on the feet.

Their shape is exaggerated, as well as the wide range of colors in which they are produced; from harsh tones to other more neutral ones that in recent years have joined the trend of customization through pins that can be attached to holesbesides flaunting with socks outside the summer months.

Although at first they jumped from functionality to more modern ones extravagant and suitable only for prescribers and the bravest, such as they were at that time Chiara FerragniMadonna or Justin Biebernow these rubber clogs are part of fashion that is democratizing and reaching the streets.

After the credit for this standardization of this footwear, multiple cooperation and licenses from the signature More than sixty designers and artists, among them the pioneer Bieber, whose collection sold out in just two hours, and also the creative director BalenciagaGemna Gvsalia.

Although these two collaborations, according to analysts at trendswill mark the before and after in the fever for these shoes, there were many luxury companies that presented theirs alterations shoes: St. Laurent or Louis Gabriel Nouchi along with Balenciaga, which added heels to shoes in its latest collaborations.

“Heights are gaining more and more weight in the collection and we can see this in sales, with a noticeable increase in platforms, models that are more and more in demand by the brand’s young public,” Crocs told EFE about the rising models.

Christopher Kane he filled this shoe with stones trying to make a more sophisticated version, while in Internet and shops Cool models of little girls succeed in fast fashion chains, skewers and check markswhich coexist with classic models in neutral tones.

More and more present in casual fashion and outside the summer months thanks to models from wider soles which appear with neutral socksthis shoe, although in wider use, continues to be synonymous with the avant-garde in its latest versions, which follow a futuristic line associated with its most striking origins.

“The model that works best is the Classic Clog in all its versions, both in colors basic solids (navy, black, white or khaki), as well as in patterns, especially those that recreate the effect of marble,” say Crocs about the most commercialized models.

Like garments such as overalls or cargo pantsfashion rescues the utilitarian piece and elevates it as part of the garments Vanguard ranging from the most daring to the general public.