Here we go again.

I feel like you’re either team Crocs or you hate them, and once you’ve picked a side, there’s no going back.

We’ve seen the Post Malone Crocs, we’ve seen platform Crocs, and now we’ve seen….

Crocs with fanny packs – or moon bags, depending on where in the world you live. Yeah, they went there.

Here’s Business Insider with an attempt to answer how and why this has happened:

Japanese fashion brand Beams partnered with Crocs to create the “Pocket” Croc, a Croc with a moon bag attached to its ankle strap. The collaboration debuted earlier this month, with shoes selling for 5940 yen, or about R750, on Beams’ website.

Some people were less than enthused about the hybrid. Fast Company announced the collaboration with the headline: “Crocs Just Got More Absurd.” The New York Post cut even deeper, stating: “Crocs add fanny packs, somehow get uglier.” (Moon bags are known as “fanny packs” in the US.)

Here’s the thing – those shoes are almost certainly objectively ugly (even the most ardent of Crocs fans must agree), but that’s kind of the point.

The New York Times writes about them, CNN writes about them, we’re here talking about them – look at that free press:

The fashion Frankenstein is not only on the cutting edge of aesthetics; it is also a brilliant business decision, in line with the strategy that has driven Crocs’ impressive comeback in recent years.

“Ugly products have become so ironic that they’re now trendy, thanks to designer brands launching their own ugly clothing items,” Business Insider’s Mary Hanbury reported in 2018. “It’s an excellent marketing ploy – these unappealing products with large price tags create a backlash and subsequent buzz on social media.”

…With ugly getting cool, Crocs is thriving. Earlier in April, the company reported that its same-store sales grew 10.8% in 2018. Online sales were up 22.5% for the year…

Crocs has found success by partnering with celebrities and other fashion brands while simultaneously leaning into the inherent “ugliness” of the clog…

People who ridicule moon-bag-Crocs are missing the point. There’s something joyful about an ugly, semi-practical, semi-absurd shoe.

I feel like calling the moon bag Crocs ‘semi-practical’ is a stretch, but they know exactly what they’re doing when they roll out something like this.

You win, you ugly but brilliant bastards.

[source:businsider]