Crocs: The Second Coming of the Ugliest Shoe Ever

From fashion punchline to pandemic must-have

Image: Badly edited by author

Crocs — the colorful, comfortable foam clogs that break almost every rule in fashion and evoke divisive and visceral reactions from customers and critics alike — are back from the dead.

The shoe company was once the butt of everyone’s jokes, described by critics and commentators with such language as “vermin” and “the ugliest shoes ever invented.” The Crocs was even voted one of TIME’s top 50 worst inventions in 2010. Yet it was also the only major footwear brand in the pandemic to enjoy a rise in sales, thanks largely to the second coming of the Croc.

Here’s how Crocs went from a seemingly one-hit-wonder barely hanging on after the 2008 recession to one of the hottest brands that just won’t die.

Crocs’ fall from grace

Crocs was the brainchild of three founders who had stumbled upon a new boating clog made by Canadian company Foam Creations while out on a sailing trip. It was the material the clogs were made from, known as Croslite, that excited them. After securing the rights to the foam-creation process and tweaking the design, they debuted Crocs in 2002 by launching a single design called “Beach.” While it looked very similar to the quintessential Croc shape we know…