Created for utilitarian use, crocs have become a style statement.Getty
At the 2024 Tony Awards in June, Brooke Shields stepped out on the red carpet wearing a canary yellow Monique Lhuillier gown and matching canary-yellow Crocs.
Maybe the look wasn’t all that surprising. Perhaps we’ve inadvertently grown accustomed to seeing the ugly shoe all around us. It’s understandable: In 2024, Crocs have not just been worn by gardeners, Disney World-goers or quirky celebrities, but everyone, including the fashion set.
“I’m proud to wear shoes that are both comfortable and chic,” says Steff Yotka, director of content at Montreal-based fashion retailer SSENSE and self-proclaimed Crocs superfan. When Yotka says “chic,” she means “ugly chic,” which has been a popular shoe trend among fashion lovers for a few years (think Birkenstock sandals or Gucci’s hairy mules).
Here’s why ugly-chic shoes are typically alluring: They’re uber-wearable. “As I’ve gotten older, my style has gotten more comfortable since I walk all the time,” says Yotka. “With Crocs, you have a chunk of foam under your footbed that makes them more comfortable than sneakers to walk in or stand for long periods of time.”
Which is, of course, what they were made for.
Crocs hit the market in 2002 as a shoe for boaters and gardeners. The company was founded by three Colorado natives who based their design on a foam clog by Foam Creations, a Canadian brand they eventually acquired.
In the aughts, the shoe, named after a reptile for its look and feel, became a go-to for professionals who spent a lot of time on their feet, such as chefs, nurses and some celebrities — Crocs were being spotted on stars like Jennifer Garner and Oprah Winfrey. They still lacked appeal to the cool fashion girls of the era, like Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie.
Crocs went public in 2006, and they continued to rise in popularity until 2008, when the financial crisis hit, and the company’s earnings took a nosedive. They trudged along without noteworthy success until 2016, when the shoe took a surprising turn: The ugly stepper began a transition into a bold, high-fashion choice courtesy of designer Christopher Kane, who partnered with the brand and designed a glamorous pair that was embellished with stones.
It was the perfect fashion move for the time. Kane took a jarring, utilitarian shoe and gave it a cheeky update, which was just what the trendsetters wanted. It was the mid-2010s after all, when cool Parisian fashion brand Vetements had been gaining praise for “appropriating ugly or non-traditionally fashionable silhouettes and turning them into what the brand’s designer, Demna Gvasalia, deemed as fashion,” explains Natalie Stevenson, a Vancouver-based fashion historian.
In 2017, after Gvasalia had shifted into the role of creative director at Balenciaga, he picked up where Kane had started and sent models down the runway in banana yellow and bubblegum pink platform Crocs decorated with logoed charms (what Crocs fans call “Jibbitz”).
“Luxury fashion brands have done a lot to make Crocs cool,” says Yotka, “and Crocs has done a lot to make themselves cool by partnering with different brands and important people throughout various industries.”
SSENSE first stocked its virtual shelves with Crocs in spring and summer of 2022, which was a good time to do it — Crocs reported sales were up 200 per cent during the pandemic. The fashion retailer was met with strong customer demand and nearly full sell-throughs, so it has continued to carry the brand’s originals as well as its various collaborations, such as one with Lisa Frank in fall 2023, and Hello Kitty in spring 2024.
“They’re an odd stylistic choice that people of all class levels adopt and wear to add personality to their look,” says Stevenson. Why? “It goes back to social media,” she says.
Platforms such as Instagram are peppered with influencers wearing perfectly styled outfits in a way that can be hard to differentiate from the next influencer. “People are trying to create a sense of uniqueness through clothing to stand out,” says Stevenson. That’s easy to do with Crocs, which come in an assortment of colours and platform heights, and can be accented with various decals, making them easy to customize.
Since the pandemic, people have generally leaned more toward practical than impractical outfits for everyday life. “Crocs are a utilitarian shoe,” Stevenson says. “They’re antimicrobial, slip resistant, and really comfy.” They’re also arguably more fun than a sneaker.
Want to participate in the trend? The good news is ugly shoes go with everything because they look “good” with nothing. “A friend of mine got married in Crocs because she always wears them, and they’ve become part of her identity,” says Stevenson. In other words, they’ve become an easy way to be fashionably unfashionable and to show a hint of your true self at any occasion.
Yotka’s favourite way to wear Crocs is with a sweater and a full skirt — and don’t forget socks. “A Croc and a cute sock, like a contrast one, is the perfect combo,” she says.
Stevenson and Yotka don’t see Crocs going anywhere anytime soon. In fact, Stevenson sees more collabs in the shoe’s future.
“Some of the collections that Crocs has done with designers, like the collab with Simone Rocha, were actually really pretty — so the shoes were more palatable for some people,” she says. “I think the company will continue to collaborate with brands, and hopefully smaller ones too, which will keep them appealing to new generations.”