The Clogs Trend Is Definitely Back For 2021

From Hermès to Stella McCartney, Louis Vuitton and Pierre Hardy, clogs are having a comeback in 2021.

October 2020: On the Hermès’ Spring/Summer 2021 runway, we spotted them on the models’ feet, styled with leather trench coats and sexy bodysuits. The French house managed to make clogs look chic and wearable with the brown and black shined leather and the low heel. They definitely are the statement shoes of the season. From Hermès to Stella McCartney on to Louis Vuitton and Pierre Hardy, the original clog – opened on the ankle with a wooden sole embellished with studs - is having a huge comeback.

Let’s go back in time. Originally, in the late 15th century, the clog served as a safety shoe to protect the feet of workers, miners and farmers. Carved out of a piece of birch or beech (tree’s wood) for those with little incomes, and in walnut tree’s wood for the wealthy ones, the clog quickly became the utilitarian shoe in rural areas, particularly in France.

At the time, it was a revolutionary invention, argues fashion historian Catherine Örmen. It allowed the toes to take good support and thus guaranteed dynamic moves. "This shoe owes its fashionable moments to the 1920s.” In May 1926, the New York label LC Studios unveiled a collection of bathing suits accompanied by sand clogs, "one of the most interesting innovations of the season", says the Women's Wear Daily. In 1963, we saw them on the feet of elegant women: first with the shoemaker Herbert Levine, then with Ulla Olsenius, America's only sole importer of the Swedish Olof Daughters clogs. The flower power decade will definitely consecrate clogs as the it-shoes of the time.

Lockdown after the other, the clogs became a social media star accessory, where it-girls wore them with a pair of chunky socks.

“The clog is a contemporary armor, confirms Catherine Örmen. Tough, durable, timeless, comfortable, it is the very essence of what people crave right now - a foray from the countryside to the city. Its comeback is by no means yet another historical reminiscence or a "boho cool" quote from the seventies, but rather a matter of context. And contrary to appearances, it does not weigh down the figure. Because with these imposing models, the leg simply appears thinner." Definitely a chic effect.