Crocs are the shoe we all love to hate. They aren’t particularly attractive or supportive, your Dad probably owns a pair, and there’s usually a voice in the back of your mind which consistently asks, “What’s wrong with Havianas?” All of those are fair points, but Crocs have been making a cool comeback of late and a recent collaboration with Salehe Bembury is just further proof.
This project was first teased by Bembury back in February. This week, however, we finally get a first look at the fresh slides. The Croc Classic Clog shape is loosely the same, yet almost the entire rest of the shoe has been reimagined.
The white and black foam surface is deeply corrugated, seemingly at random before you start to notice the whorls, loops, and arches that hint at one of Bembury’s favourite motifs: the fingerprint. That’s right, the almost topographic pattern is inspired by a human fingerprint, with Crocs signature vents hidden in the valleys of the pattern.
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This isn’t the first time Crocs has collaborated with other designers, recently working with pop stars such as Bad Bunny, Justin Beiber, and Diplo. But those collaborative efforts were comparatively superficial when considered next to the Bembury design, only really toying with colours and patterns.
While the inspiration is clearly very different, the Crocs and Salehe Bembury collaboration does have a loose resemblance to the as-yet-unreleased Adidas YEEZY Foam Runner “MX Cream Clay” slides. As YEEZY season approaches with Kanye West’s promise of a new album, both the Crocs and YEEZY’s are sure to be very popular.
While there’s no word on a release date yet, we’re sure I’ll be well in time for the Australian summer. So don’t fret… these sweetly seductive slides will be available soon enough.
