At some point in the last three years, the way we looked at Crocs changed. Well, kind of: we still see bulbous, perforated clogs, evocative of some weird amphibian egg-sacs.
But the widespread cultural revulsion (and subsequent ironic re-adoption) towards your uncle’s favourite hoseable footwear has given way to a sense of… not quite appreciation, but acceptance. Like their reptilian namesake, Crocs have been around for millions of years, and they’ll probably outlive us. We get it. They’ve won.
It’s not just in hearts and minds that Crocs have staged that resurgence. It’s on the fucking catwalk, as evidenced by Balenciaga’s Women Spring / Summer 2018 showing at Paris Fashion Week.
Yes, the lauded fashion house has collaborated with Crocs for a platformed take on their distinctive foot-holder. You better believe they come with those pin-able bits of razzle-dazzle flair, too.
Speaking to Footwear News about their 10cm-platformed ‘Foam’ showing, Crocs’ marketing genius Michelle Poole said “when Balenciaga approached us, we were intrigued by the opportunity to push the boundaries of our design and molding capabilities,” before tapping up the “relevance of our iconic clog in today’s fashion and design world.”
We guess if they’re part of Balenciaga’s lookbook, there may be some legitimacy there, but we’ll let you have a gander at the runway pictures to decide for yourself:
They’ll eventually be available at Balenciaga stores and their online shop. There’s no set price point for those bad boys, but if they even come close to mirroring the price of Balenciaga’s other recent addition to the so-fugly-they’re-passable canon, you can expect to drop a few hundo to look like a kawaii hardstyler.
