Clarks – How This Hip-Hop Icon Became New York’s Soles Of The City
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Sneaker trends have become a worldwide cult, and it’s Clarks who changed the game by influencing hip-hop culture as New York’s Soles of the City!
From the casual streetwear style, practical daily driver outfits, and high-fashion apparel, the most important piece of clothing in your arsenal to complete the look is a good pair of sneakers that can augment your style by leaps and bounds!
Today, the cult of sneakerheads have members all over the planet with collections housing tasteful and subtle sneakers to more extravagant and highly sought-after collaborations. However, this obsession in sneaker culture wouldn’t have been made possible by a single respected, albeit highly-unusual brand of shoes: Clarks, and how their shoes become a hip-hop icon and mainstay that kickstarted a revolution in the sneaker game and how their very own Wallabee shoes became New York’s official soles of the city.
The video sets its location in a place where sneaker culture is a hotbed, New York. A melting pot of different cultures and styles make it the fashion capital of the world as well as the birthplace of the hip-hop music genre. Bringing some of the biggest chart-toppers we’ve all listened to and even setting new trends in fashion. Especially with sneakers at its very infancy.
Featuring some of the most legendary names in the hip-hop music genre such as Ghostface Killah, Raekwon, Jadakiss and many more within the sphere of New York, the artists invited by Clarks provided their own recollection and history of the state of the fashion game during the peak of hip-hop culture and the birth of sneaker culture as a whole.
Despite the differing opinions of the brand, all of them agreed in unison that Clarks, a shoe company the prioritized comfort over style, came into the scene and making a statement by turning their newly-released Wallabee shoes into a hip-hop staple. With some of them even saying that it is a mandatory piece of clothing to your collection to match with pretty much any style, as well as being an instant upgrade to your overall aesthetic.
Later in life, hip-hop artists that own a pair of Clarks Wallabees no longer bought it because it was a hot commodity item, but rather as a rite of passage within the hip-hop sphere by personalizing their own pair of Clarks with funky designs that shows off their individuality. As told by one rapper whose album cover depicted several unique sets of Wallabees dyed by a Chinese store manager, and by another who still cherishes his original pair that was given to him. One other featured artist even had his pair embossed in a sort of waffle-like pattern.
With Jordans and Yeezys oversaturating the market thanks to the Hypebeasts that fanned the flames of the sneaker culture at large, we mustn’t forget that original brand that drove an entire culture with a shoe that not only looks good, but also comfortable to wear on the daily!
