Hole shoes and a lot of ugly shoes are making a comeback.
After falling for more than 10 years, the hole shoe Crocs was revived. announced on August 1st according to Crocs In the second quarter of FY 2019, its sales increased by 9.4% year-on-year to US$358 million, retail same-store sales increased by 11.8%, and wholesale channels increased by 5.2%.
The most important thing is that it is starting to be loved by young consumers. According to a survey of the most popular American youth brands by Piper Jaffray, an investment bank, Crocs ranked 13th in the footwear brand in 2019. More than 30 of them have been greatly improved in 2017.
The Crocs brand and its classic hole shoes have experienced big ups and downs in less than 20 years. It was launched as a rowing shoe in 2002 and is highly regarded for its comfort. After the company was listed on NASDAQ in 2006, its sales exceeded US$1 billion for six consecutive years, and its sales exceeded 50 million per year.
From Google Trends, 2007 was a year of decline. After 10 years, both Crocs’s performance and search volume were in the doldrums. Fortunately, it has not been forgotten, every other time, everyone will laugh at its ugliness. In 2010, Crocs was named “the worst invention” by Time magazine for one reason: ugly. Someone built a group on Facebook “I don’t care how comfortable Crocs is, you are like a fool in it,” and 1.2 million people joined.
The Crocs brand’s vision and image haven’t changed much, and it’s the hole shoes. How did Crocs come back to life in these two years? Is it changed, or is the young person changed?
Doing a joint name makes Crocs cool, giving it more meaning
Crocs is “ordinary (ugly) shoes.” In the United States, many professionals who need to stand for a long time, such as doctors, nurses, and chefs, have chosen it because of comfort. In the past, the problem with Crocs might be ugly..
In the past two years, it has begun to approach the pyramid side of the right to speak in fashion, starting with a joint name. In 2016, when the designer brand Christopher Kane announced the cooperation, although it has generated over 10 billion publicity effects for Crocs, the online public opinion is still negatively more. In 2017, when Crocs and the Balenciaga launched 10cm platform shoes, they began to have some praise. Those who have not looked at Crocs before will have to look at it.
This year it has won a lot of noise with the Chinatown Market and the American luggage brand Vera Bradley. In Japan, Crocs and the trend clothing brand Beams cooperated, the design is quite singular: put a small pocket on the shoes (still many netizens said, can not sell outside Japan). In the US, it and the rapper Post Malone’s crossover were snapped up (Even Madonna said that he wants to enter a pair).
It turns out that Crocs is malleable. A lot of different styles can be put in, whether it is Hello Kitty or Gothic metal. Canadian handmade brand Kunst even launched Crocs shoe earrings. “Funny” blogger Unnecessary Inventions (useless invention) made a Crocs gloves.
It can be said that Crocs became a stalk of youth subculture. People helped Crocs to keep it hot. Crocs also recognized this. Michelle Poole, its global commodities director, said: “We are a brand that everyone is happy with. ‘In fact, it is this tension that keeps us in the sight of people.”
Comfort is a trend, it becomes more and more important
The recovery of Crocs is related to its comfortable nature.
Comfort is increasingly important for clothing and fashion. Sports shoes and other sports and leisure styles have already entered the room: sports shoes instead of leather shoes and high heels, can be directly matched with suits and skirts; almost all luxury brands have launched sports shoes.
The overall trend of comfort is more pronounced in women. Women turned to sneakers instead of high heels. According to the US market research firm NPD, sales of women’s sports shoes in the United States increased by 37% in 2017, while High heels sales fell 11%. The same is true in China: the lack of timely follow-up sports and leisure winds is considered to be one of the reasons for the decline of traditional women’s shoes and other big companies such as Belle and Daphne. Nike, Adidas and An Dema are all increasing their investment in the women’s sports shoes market.
At the same time, more comfortable and thin women’s underwear is sought after. In the United Kingdom and the United States, the company that launched the Bralette (a rimless lace bra) has grown in the last two years. The newly launched sports underwear style has also increased by 50%. With the rimless underwear products, Uniqlo accounts for the market in the Japanese women’s underwear market.