foam! the limited edition balenciaga crocs

foam! balenciaga crocs
images courtesy balenciaga

the high-end fashion label balenciaga presented yesterday on the runway in paris’ spring 2018 women’s pret-a-porter show a collaboration with crocs. 

the crocs have been many things – practical, comfy, unisex and unbreakable – but they’ve never been cool. while christopher kane was the first luxury designer to collaborate with crocs in 2016, the spanish fashion empire balenciaga is taking the ‘boating or gardening shoe’ to even newer heights. 

the limited edition collection ‘foam’ will be available in yellow, pink, and a muted green. the new 10cm platform version offers customization in the form of ‘jibbitz’, pins — looking like plastic fridge magnets — that can be attached to the perforated upper.

balenciaga’s designer demna gvasalia states: ’it’s light, and in the future you will be able to 3D print them at home because they are all one piece – we are using a one-piece foam mould, and working with these kind of materials is very balenciaga!’

the ‘foam’ crocs will also be branded with demna’s newly redesigned balenciaga logo.

earlier this year, balenciaga started selling a USD 2,145 bag that looked a whole lot like ikea’s 99-cent tote and a couple of months later, it presented a USD 1,100 version of its own regular paper bag – except made of calfskin and metal.

in 2004, the american company crocs purchased ‘foam creations’ and their manufacturing operations to secure exclusive rights to the proprietary foam resin called ‘croslite’, which is a closed cell resin. the foam forms itself to a wearer’s feet and seems to offer purported medical benefits, according to a number of podiatrists. in 2006, crocs purchased ‘jibbitz’, a manufacturer of accessories that snap into the holes in crocs shoes.