Crocs: just a trend or here to stay? 

By Giovanna Lino

If you were a teenager in the early 2000s, you probably owned a pair of Crocs. At the time, they were a coveted trend that revolutionized the sector of comfortable, yet playful, footwear.

As years passed, however, Crocs faded in the public's mind. Other footwear brands started to launch new trends and Crocs came into oblivion. Though some may believe that it was only a phase, others still wear it as a comfortable stay-at-home shoe. Nevertheless, Crocs are not everyone's cup of tea when styling their outfits nowadays. 

After the pandemic, Crocs saw an opportunity to change people's perception of their brand by partnering with different celebrities and high-end brands. Crocs wanted to be seen as something different than what they were perceived as in 2010: a comfortable, playful shoe brand.  

However, it takes a bold personality and sense of style to pull off wearing Crocs. Brand managers being aware of this fact, have decided to reimagine the world of Crocs. Now, they are not only focused on the comfortability of the shoe, but more importantly on the style and uniqueness that it represents. Contrary to other brands, Crocs sales have increased by 12% since the beginning of the pandemic. How did they do that? 

The brand negotiated high end collaborations with Christopher Kane and Balenciaga as well as celebrities such as Post Malone, Justin Bieber, Bad Bunny, and DJ Diplo. These collaborations have been successful in promoting the shoe as a 'cool' statement piece to style anyone’s outfit. In addition, major influencers and celebrities started to use social media to promote the brand Crocs. Nicki Minaj showed up to one of her events with a bright pink pair of Crocs covered with her favorite pins, and posted about it, causing a 4900% increase in sales of the pink Crocs, allegedly crashing the brand's website. Customers realized that if celebrities were creating their own Crocs style, then maybe the shoes were back in style, and still fashionable to wear. This marketing strategy did not only impact sales, but also the perception of the brand:  Crocs had once again become a part of people's wardrobe. 

The question that still remains to be answered is whether the revival of Crocs will be a long term success or simply a 2021 fling.