We hate to break it to you, but it looks like Crocs might be the shoes of the summer

11 May 2021

Summer is fast approaching, and when it comes to footwear, it looks like one particularly contentious brand will be everywhere: Crocs The shoes just won’t quit.

Nicki Minaj has gone viral for a photoshoot where she’s wearing hot pink, bejewelled Crocs and not much else. According to The Sole Supplier, demand for ‘pink Crocs’ increased by 4,900% in the hours following Minaj’s post.

Crocs have long been controversial – the plastic clogs were largely dismissed as garish and ‘ugly’ until the fashion world reclaimed them as their own. The ultra comfortable shoes got their first taste of the big time when designer Christopher Kane featured them on the runway of his spring/summer 2017 London Fashion Week show; Balenciaga has since put its own spin on the style, and Crocs have collaborated with rapper Post Malone and artist Takashi Murakami.

Love them or hate them, Crocs have slowly been returning to the mainstream – and it would seem 2021 is set to be a huge year for the brand.

Minaj isn’t the only celebrity to show their love for the oddly light, but simultaneously bulbous shoes – musician Questlove walked the Oscars red carpet in April in a dazzling gold pair…

…. and Justin Bieber dropped his second collaboration with Crocs in March.

The pandemic has helped shift our approach to fashion, with many of us craving comfort over everything else – and perhaps that’s where Crocs come in.

So-called ‘ugly shoes’ remain big fashion business – think fluorescent dad sneakers and chunky sandals; Crocs fit right in. The company is going even reporting a 64% increase in revenues during the first quarter of the year.

But don’t worry, you definitely don’t have to love them. If the style isn’t for you, take a leaf out of Victoria Beckham’s book – when Bieber sent her a pair of lilac Crocs from his new collection, she posted a picture of them on Instagram Stories with the caption: “I think I’d rather die but thank you anyway.”

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