"
The 'king' of the cave shoe world has and only Crocs
"
A recent news on social media hot search has attracted a lot of people's attention - Crocs, the originator of cave shoes, has an annual income of 3.555 billion US dollars, about 25.5 billion yuan, and its market value exceeds that of the well-known Li Ning.
No one would have thought that this shoe brand, which was once known as a "fashion disaster", is now popular all over the world, from being questioned to being understood, to now having 1 billion+ views on related topics on social media, and even the slogan "The Cave Door Lasts Forever" has become the cyber belief of contemporary young people.
Behind the success of this phenomenal bottoming rebound, it is naturally indispensable to the promotion of those well-known co-branded projects, but this may only be the appearance. Behind the success is inseparable from every step taken by Crocs, who has gone from "lazy shoes" to "fashion black hole" to "latest IT shoes" in recent years.
01.
From "ugly" to "cool".
Crocs has been gone for 22 years
A long time ago, three friends from Colorado, USA, were trying to figure out how to design a non-slip shoe for rowing, and finally at a rowing show in 2001, they brought the first generation of Crocs' "cave shoes", The Beach.
The clog-like The Beach was inspired by the popular design of Canadian brand Foam Creations, and after the shoes sold out quickly at the show, the following year, Crocs' iconic 13-hole sandal went into production.
These comfortable, odour-resistant, fashionable and fun shoes of the time impressed not only rowers, but also doctors, chefs, and faculty members.
In order to ensure exclusivity, the company bought Foam Creations, the originator of cave shoes, and applied for a patent for Croslite™ plastic, and the thriving Crocs was named the best brand of the year in 2005 by the famous American footwear magazine Footwear News.
By 2006, Crocs was sold in 40+ countries around the world, and the crazy star effect pushed Crocs to unprecedented heights: celebrities and politicians all added Crocs to their casual daily outfits. To this day, the classic sneakers are still the favorite of many idols.
There are many people who are popular, and so are Crocs. The popularity of cave shoes has sparked polarized discussions, starting with an attack on appearance. Time magazine editor Kristi Oloffson, in calling Crocs one of the "50 worst inventions," wrote: "No matter how popular it is, it's really ugly." ”
Many fashion celebrities even have "real-name system" saying that they would rather die than wear Crocs. Overnight, the Crocs were seen as a fashion black hole.
Maybe you still feel the same way, but even Crocs himself is aware of it. "Ugly can be beautiful" was used in the brand's advertising slogan, and even for a while, the official Crocs social media account used various memes to laugh at itself.
Security issues have also become another problem for Crocs. Children's elevator accidents occur worldwide and are more common among Crocs users, and in some areas, they are even directly marked by signs, and people wearing shoes with holes need to pay special attention when taking escalators.
In addition, in the context of the global popularity of unique appearance, copycat manufacturers who smell business opportunities have also put a large number of counterfeit and shoddy shoes containing carcinogens on the market, which has caused the relevant departments of the brand to fall into the public relations quagmire.
Perhaps because the public really can't resist the comfort of Crocs, the endless turmoil still hasn't stopped everyone from loving it. In the fourth quarter of 2006, the brand's revenue soared 236% year-on-year, but the blind expansion of the strategy left Crocs with huge losses in the face of the financial crisis.
Although more than 100 million people in the world had worn Crocs at that time, after that, Crocs, who had been in a state of "gnawing at the old capital", barely survived on regular performance, and because of business problems, Crocs repeatedly changed senior management, and even almost became a brand that was about to disappear from the planet.
02.
Crocs can bottom out
It's not just about co-branding
Luckily, the arrival of new CEO Andrew Rees has changed the direction of the brand, and it's clear to all that the familiar Crocs have really gotten cooler. Today, Crocs has made every effort to appeal to the younger generation: after the first shot with Balenciaga, Crocs has been exposed to cross-border collaborations and internet marketing.
Since 2017, when Crocs began to ride Balenciaga's ride with the Foam hyper-exaggerated platform shoe, Crocs and the hot topic maker have been constantly disrupting stereotypes of the brand with a variety of subversive shapes.
From the eye-opening first pair, to the second and third pairs...... To this day, there's always a pair of Balenciaga x Crocs in the shopping cart of the fashion elders.
It can be said that Balenciaga has completely "forced" the popularity potential of Crocs, and since then, everyone is looking forward to when Crocs' next collaboration series will come, and what "moths" will be produced.
Lucy Thornley, Vice President of Crocs, who focuses on global trends, design and products, said: "In my opinion, when we work with streetwear brands, games really begin, and it takes courage to go under the aura of luxury brands, and we have entered a whole new territory."
In order to better open up the global market outside the United States, Crocs has attracted the best people and brands from all over the world, and in this way, Crocs' crazy co-branding road has begun.
From the sold-out collaborations with artists such as Justin Bieber, Post Malone, and SZA in the early years, to the recent collaborations with fashion up-and-comers such as Simone Rocha and ROA, as well as familiar brands such as CLOT, JJJJound, PALACE, and McDonald's, Crocs seems to be trying to take over everyone's shoe closet "at all".
But it's clear that the reason why the Crocs collaboration is interesting and affordable is not because it only knows how to change colors like a "color palette", but because it focuses on "forget about 13 holes!" This slogan gives partners enough creative freedom.
In other words, no matter how "weird" your aesthetic is, you can find yourself for a moment in Crocs.
In addition to the co-branding, Crocs can become popular again because of the "shoe flower" that can show personality and creativity. Shortly after the Crocs were introduced, Sheri and Rich Schmelzer saw a business opportunity in the shoe hole and created Jibbitz™, a decorative object specifically used for "cave shoes", which is now commonly known as "shoe flowers".
After being officially acquired, Jibbitz™ has more possibilities. As part of the collaboration, everyone can decorate their own pair of shoes with Jibbitz™ from different IPs, giving them a unique meaning.
A pair of cave shoes can hold up to 26 Jibbitz™, as mentioned at the beginning of the article, behind Crocs' annual income of up to 25.5 billion yuan, a considerable part of it is actually provided by Jibbitz™.
According to a report by sneaker platform StockX, Crocs' market share has grown eight times faster than the sneaker market since 2021. In addition, the influence of Crocs is also reflected in the fact that when you look at today's sneaker market, you can see the shadow of hole shoes, such as Merrell's Hydro Moc or Yeezy's Roam Runner, which also borrows from Crocs' design to a certain extent.
Today, Crocs is not only on Time Magazine's list of the 100 most influential companies, but even the British version of the "fashion bible" "Vogue" regards the classic sneaker as the latest "IT-Shoe".
03.
You say "fashion is reincarnation"?
But Crocs' success is no accident
The reversal of the polarity of the sneaker may seem somewhat ironic now, but everything happens for a reason, and the same is true in the pop culture universe. Crocs' classic sneakers didn't go from "ugly" to "trendy" overnight, in essence, the gears of fate began to turn from the moment Crocs examined the definition of beauty and ugliness through the classic sneakers.
In other words, behind the success of Crocs, it cannot be simply classified as a fatalistic theory such as "fashion is reincarnation", but more like Crocs' marketing play to judge the situation.
Over the past few years, the public is now more willing to put personal comfort first, slippers have become a symbol of self-liberation, and the public is more willing and possible to express their differences, and the emergence of the buzzword "relaxation" is also understandable.
In addition, combined with the new consumption habit of "downgrade consumption", some items with low unit price and considered "ugly" but can show personality can allow young people to meet the psychology of showing personality at a very low cost, and because of the special tonality of the product and high social attributes, it is also in line with the consumption habits of Generation Z consumers.
As a result, the Crocs, which is simple in appearance and even a little "ugly", but the price is not high, reveals that young people dare to pursue a comfortable and fashionable attitude to life, and it seems to have become an outlet for young people's emotions in the emotionally tense modern society.
Admittedly, many young people say that the shoe cabinet is made up of different types of Crocs. In addition to the many co-branded projects, it is also because Crocs knows how to make innovative design changes on different items, and use one product line to penetrate different scenes.
For example, with the addition of fluff to become suitable for winter wear, with the addition of a thick sole for everyday fashion wear, with the addition of non-slip and shoe covers, it can also be transformed into hiking shoes, and because the color and shape structure are relatively simple, the cave shoes can be integrated into various scenes.
In addition, because of the appearance of personalized "shoe flowers" everywhere and those co-branded with a sense of fashion trends, although each pair of Crocs has a similar silhouette, it can always play different attributes in different occasions and different outfits, becoming a personalized expression of young people.
When it rises to the level of values, Crocs no longer just represents "beauty and ugliness", but has become a representative item that encourages the public to pursue self-comfort. From the superposition of functional needs to mental needs, Crocs actually moves quite smartly in every move.