Cast your mind back over all of the comfort-led trends of the past 12 months – the house dresses, the sweatpants, the slides – and the clog revival starts to look like a foregone conclusion. Because what is a clog if not a sturdy slipper? But while they’re almost as snug as the Ugg Minis the supermodels now routinely wear to their workouts, and certainly as effortless as that fashion faux pas turned Gen-Z favourite, the Croc, the key clog for 2021 has the added bonus of being distinctly haute.
Perhaps the original utilitarian shoe (traditional wooden clogs protected the toes of generations of Dutch farmers and factory workers), clogs were given a seriously luxe makeover care of Hermès at Paris Fashion Week spring/summer 2021. Nadège Vanhée-Cybulski sent all 46 looks in the collection down her runway paired with gleaming leather slip-ons in black, brown, taupe and cream. Featuring the requisite wooden sole and studded trim, they were both flat and functional – but this was no lockdown shoe. “I didn’t project the lockdown on the collection, instead I was thinking about being outside,” Vanhée-Cybulski told British Vogue at the time.
Hence cream clogs were teamed with crisp sky-blue trousers and a lively red lip; a glossy black pair with a sleek matching apron dress, and the chocolate-brown shade with a relaxed leather skirt. “For me, it was about the freedom of being able to breathe fresh air, to embrace my friends,” the designer said – a sentiment sure to elicit a pang in anyone currently counting down the days until the rule of six returns.
With that happy day in mind, the new status clog is the ideal reentry shoe: as polished as a heel, but not half as daunting after a year spent padding around in socks – and frankly, far too good to be confined to your living room. Camille Charrière wears her clogs with ribbed ankle socks and silky shorts, while New York-based chef and tastemaker Laila Gohar throws a trench over cropped trousers and her black Hermès flats.
More slipper-like still are Fabrizio Viti’s shearling clogs, which are popular with the Instagram crowd thanks to their fleecy upper and cheerful band of daisies. Veronika Heilbrunner packed a pair of the cuddly clogs when she moved from London to a farmhouse in deepest Bavaria at the end of last year, and you might also have spotted them on Naomi Scott in her recent Vogue Visionaries masterclass.
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The global fashion shopping platform Lyst confirms the clog is having a moment, with searches up 124 per cent on this time last year. It seems shoppers are seeking out authentic takes on the homespun classic, with searches for wooden clogs in particular up 65 per cent month on month. Isabel Marant’s Thalie leather clogs are especially in demand, as are pairs from the now ubiquitous Birkenstock (Sienna Miller snapped up its fleece-lined Boston clogs in the Port shade).
Not since Chloë Sevigny was clip-clopping around Manhattan in Swedish Hasbeens has the clog looked so compelling. Orthopedists will be pleased.
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