Many Hype items that are highly discussed nowadays are all variations of classic products. Classic Go Hype will look back at the “original appearance” of these items when they were born, and interpret how they went from “Classic” to “Hype”.
At the 2002 Fort Lauderdale Boat Show, a booth was packed, but it wasn’t the yachts that attracted people, it was a pair of EVA (ethylene-vinyl acetate) one-piece moldings. rowing slippers. Inspired by the shape of clogs, this product named “Classic Clog” was sold out on the spot, which also greatly increased the confidence of the three founders, Scott Seamans, Lyndon Hanson, and George Boedbecker Jr.then Crocs Classic Clog As the company’s first shoe model, it went on the market and became an instant hit. Because of its soft, lightweight, breathable and other comfortable features, this slippers have also entered the home, hospital, kitchen and other use scenarios from water sports.
However, it has always been criticized by the public as “ugly” Crocs It has always been shut out of fashion, and at the same time, because the executive team lacks management experience in the footwear and fashion fields, the company, which had revenue of more than $108 million in 2005, was almost bankrupt in 2008. Until 2014, with the addition of CEO Gregg Ribatt, who has extensive shoe brand experience, Lucy Thornley and Michelle Poole, vice presidents focusing on global product innovation, Crocs began to pick up.
Collaborations are undoubtedly a great way to reshape the brand’s tone, British fashion designer Christopher Kane In 2016, I took the initiative to contact Crocs, wanting to cooperate to design a Crocs Classic Clog with marble print, which is the first of Crocs fashion joint name.Subsequently, when he took office Balenciaga creative director soon Demna Gvasalia Also throw an olive branch to Crocs, the platform shoes of the first cooperation between the two sides appeared in the 2018 spring and summer women’s collection.Since then, Crocs has been on the road to co-branding. Palace、BEAMS and other trend units,Justin Bieber、Post Malone Collaborate with celebrities.
2020 is the year that Crocs really stood in the spotlight. A dazzling array of joint collaborations bombarded people’s attention in turn, and at the same time made the public officially begin to change the brand. In 2021 alone, Crocs’ stock price will increase by nearly 130%, which is three times the cumulative increase in 2020. And Crocs also made the craze of one-piece EVA foam shoes sweeping the world,YEEZY、1017 ALYX 9SM The foam shoes launched by other brands have further reshaped people’s perception of shoe design.
In the past year, the most Hype Crocs co-branded shoes are the high-top boots in the Crocs Clones 2.0 series, which is re-cooperated with Balenciaga, as well as high-top boots by well-known shoe designers. Salehe Bembury The Crocs Pollex Clog series by hand.Recently, Crocs has also partnered with Chinese fashion brands SANKUANZ And GOODBAI launched a three-party joint name. Twenty years ago, the Crocs Classic Clog revolutionized comfort with the groundbreaking move of EVA material from the sole to the upper. Today, 20 years later, this classic shoe that was once thought to have nothing to do with fashion has been transformed into the hottest Hype item today.