Today we are going to open a big debate, always on footwear. Also in this case, we have two groups: who loves Crocs and who hates Crocs. (I’m part of the second team, sorry guys…) What about you?
Did you know that the famous footwear was meant to be worn during boat trips? Today the famous plastic sabot are used for any occasion, more or less… (Maybe not at a gala dinner…)
Crocs Inc. is an American company founded by Lyndon Hanson, Scott Seamans, and George Boedecker in 2002. These shoes were presented for the first time at a naval fair, the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show, where they weren’t really successful. However, with the passing of time, they began to spread throughout America, especially among children, who found them comfortable, light and fun thanks to the many colours and creativity of some models with pins and stickers in the shape of animals, flowers and emoji.
But that’s not all! The shoes were worn also by adults, they are comfortable, shockproof and odourless thanks to the characteristic material, called Crosslite. That’s why they started spreading mostly among workers and nurses.
Despite their success, the shoes are laughed at and became a joke in all the media, they were even classified in the list of the ugliest objects. Poor Crocs! Just think that during New Rules, Bill Maher says: Stop wearing plastic shoes! ‘, comparing them to the shoes worn by mental patients.
But here comes the twist, in fact, the shoes landed in the celebrities world, worn by Michelle Obama, President Bush, Al Pacino, Helen Mirren and many others. In this way, also the fashion world perceives the potential and here we go with the collaborations, first with Christopher Kane up to one of the last with Balenciaga.
Today, Crocs does not stop and grows more and more, in 2021 it doubled its profits with a growth of 50.5% reaching a turnover of 964.6 million dollars. Not bad for being categorised as the ugliest object! This is what we call a real glow up!
