How Wallabees defined the aesthetics of 2021 Anatomy of the ultimate dad shoe

One might be tempted to speak, referring to Clarks Originals' Wallabeee Boots, of a "great comeback" that has taken place in the last two years – but the truth is that the Wallabees have not returned as they have never left. This year, however, their role of protagonism has emerged with a power that was not there before: a cultural buzz demonstrated by the huge number of collaborations of which Clarks' boots have been protagonists: the latest, this month, with the Sweet Chicks restaurant chain owned by Nas, and Aimè Leon Dore; just a week before the one with Todd Snyder, in November with Kith and the New York Yankees, at the end of October with MAGIC STICK, in September with One Block Down, Supreme, BEAMS BOY; in June with Levi's, in March always with Beams, in February and instead, in 2020, with atmos Tokyo, Palm Angels, Raheem Sterling, END., OVO and again Todd Snyder and Aimè Leon Dore. And this without considering the release pinwheel of original tye-dye models, with Gore-Tex sole, with silicone details or patchwork uppers. In 2019, Stussy (who is increasingly becoming an oracle of footwear trends) had made a collaborative version of it while last August JJJJound had produced a similar silhouette with Padmore & Barnes – original manufacture of the shoe. 

But given the huge amount of variations, imaginative colorways and eccentric re-designs that Clarks' boot was the protagonist of, one cannot even be content to close the matter by calling their design "reassuring and timeless". On the contrary: Wallabee Boots have done everything, at least in their most recent versions, to expand, enrich and diversify their offer. So their versatility is back in play, their ability to be a silhouette that can make traditionalists and avant-garde happy – after all this year what is retro has become, depending on the readings, or expression of a self-validating tradition or product alien to the anonymous and often irrelevant innovations of modern footwear design. In this sense, the Wallabee is doubly versatile: on a level of easy use as a formal-but-not-too-much shoe, smart and casual together (but ghostface Killah and the Wu-Tang Clan had already told us this); in terms of cultural significance, as a white canvas that is always renewable, a vehicle of the latest trends (see the fuzzy version of Aimè Leon Dore that reactivated the craze in 2020) and above all a model of a certain hyper-comfortable elegance that has shown the fashion world that there is an alternative to both streetwear and the very pointed boots of Hedi Slimane.