Crocs: How fashion's most divisive shoe became the footwear trend of the pandemic

The pandemic has turned everyday style on its head. As the UK hunkered down at home and left only for daily exercise and food shops during lockdown, sales of tracksuits rocketed, while handbags and formal clothes waned at the back of wardrobes. Practical items took precedence over pretty and even the much maligned Croc seems to have had a renaissance.

Between April and May - around the time that most of people settled into the idea of swapping pubs for planting vegetables and baking banana bread - sales of Crocs rose by a third on the global fashion search platform, Lyst.

The shopping platform goes as far as calling Crocs “the ‘It’ shoe of spring” and says demand remains strong into autumn. A fact that means the surprise fashion hit of lockdown may be making its way beyond the garden gate as lockdown eases, and into the new normal of socialising.

Indeed, they were on the feet of several show-goers photographed at Copenhagen Fashion Week - one of the first offline events attended by the fashion crowd since the pandemic became global. Plus, Chinese actress Zhou Yutong recently wore black platform Crocs on the red carpet in Shanghai. Justin Bieber has now even launched his own range of Crocs shoes.

The most popular styles according to Lyst are the classic, floral and leopard print Crocs. But with trend-defining Generation Z, it's loud tie-dye iterations which are most popular.

Infleuncer Zaina Miuccia, who appeared in a video for The Weeknd’s latest video “In Your Eyes”, posts close-ups of hers to Instagram. While the brand’s own account is awash with pictures of twenty-somethings mismatching their looks to the same style.

26-year-old Justin Bieber has long been a fan of Crocs, pictured in multiple colours and styles when he is out in LA, including the out-there kind with badges on, or Jibbitz, as they’re known to the initiated.

Several well-timed lockdown collections can only have bolstered the trend for a summer of Crocs. The brand recently released a collaboration with Liberty, featuring the signature floral prints loved by the Duchess of Cambridge, and later another collection with actress Ruby Rose to coincide with Pride Month. The latter has now sold out.

It’s not the first time that Crocs have had a fash-over that’s seen them pivot from their usual reputation as a style best suited to kids and gardeners. For 2017, Christopher Kane made souped up versions in a marble print with oversized crystal Jibbitz. Later he also made fur-lined versions.

“I’ve always been a fan of the iconic Crocs Clog. I like that they are perceived by some to be quite ‘ugly’ and not at all feminine or designed to flatter,” Kane said of the shoes.

Then for spring 2018, Balenciaga followed suit with 10-inch platform versions of the clogs, selling at a staggering £650 — which is almost 20 times the RRP of the basic version of the clog. Despite the hefty price and meme-worthy height, they were a hit seen on the feet of many fashion week attendees that season and the next.

Perhaps another set of influencers who have had a part to play in popularising the ugly shoe in the past few months are NHS frontline staff. Currently being lauded in the media, with numerous shots of them in uniform filling our news feed, it can only be great press for the Crocs which appear on almost all of their feet. It’s definitely testament to their comfort given all the overtime that is worked by medical professionals.

Of course, it’s their orthopedic properties, and the fact they can be slipped on, which ensures they’re a hit with their core audience. But insoles which massage the feet and the fact they are fastening-free are definitely something which suits the malaise we’ve all felt in lockdown.

Helen, a 32-year-old fashion stylist from London, admits to becoming a Crocs convert recently, and buying a pair for her children, too.

“My boyfriend has had a pair since we met six years ago, but I found the shape hideous. Though when I caved and tried one on, I couldn’t help but love the comfort, and actually realised I liked the way their shapelessness jarred with my outfit.”

It’s no real surprise that in a time of uncertainty, we’ve turned to shoes which give us the support and comfort we crave. While they’ll never win on form, perhaps as Kane points out, the fact that they’re not designed to flatter has an endearing appeal.

Even if it takes Gen Z or fashion influencer levels of confidence to style them with finesse, it’s clear the ugly shoe has converted many of its critics to wear them beyond lockdown.

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