Clarks

Martine Rose for Clarks We’re delighted to launch our second collaboration with self-made, self-defined, British-Jamaican designer Martine Rose, our first-ever guest creative director. Martine brings her authentic style to Clarks with an exclusive collection inspired by our unbeatable comfort. Renowned for her eponymous label, Martine reinterprets some of our most iconic silhouettes, creating statement shoes that you’ll never want to take off. Shop the collection: https://lnkd.in/eUhgdrTt

We are honored to have the iconic Clarks Wallabee be included in Footwear News’ recent “Greatest Shoes of All Time” editorial.   In their August issue, Footwear News highlighted a selection of the most legendary footwear styles throughout history, that they have dubbed “ The Greatest Shoes of All Time”.   The list is intended to highlight footwear’s most enduring shoes that stand the test of time and continue to thrive in an ultracompetitive environment.   We are proud to have our legendary Clarks Wallabee included in the story. Since being introduced in 1968, the Wallabee changed the shape of footwear.  Serving as the ultimate blank canvas, the shoe has been continuously adopted and adapted by new generations and influential subcultures making it one of the most recognizable and versatile shoes ever. From the football terraces of the UK to the streets of Shibuya Tokyo,  the dancehalls of Jamaica to the album covers and the feet of hip-hop royalty and Brit-Pop legends, the Clarks Wallabee is an undisputed icon. We thank Footwear News for their recognition of the Wallabee’s impact on footwear, and look forward to continuing this incredible legacy into the future of footwear.    

Stranger Things x Clarks Kids The upside down is calling and things are about to get a little stranger… This exclusive collaboration with Netflix celebrates everyone’s favorite Hawkins heroes. To authentically recreate the ‘80s nostalgia the show lovingly embraces, Clarks has delved into the archive and recreated some of its most iconic silhouettes. Kids can now experience true retro profiles that celebrate individuality and self-expression and come stylishly presented in a Stranger Things-themed box.   Wear your strange and shop now on Clarks.com.

Once again, we’re honoured to be recognized as this years Footwear Business of the Year – Consumer Choice at the Draper Awards. This reaffirms the dedication of our hard working teams year over year, who prioritize pushing the boundaries every day to evolve the Clarks business while honouring our nearly 200 year heritage. We’re delighted to accept this honour as we continue to innovate and shape the brand.

For the past four years, Clarks has proudly partnered with The Elephant Room, an agency dedicated to inclusivity. This Pride month, Clarks is once again teaming up with The Elephant Room to co-host their innovative mentoring programme, 'One Month Mentors', aimed at supporting talent in the LGBTQ+ community. In July, we will match 10 mentees with 10 leaders in the creative field from the LGBTQ+ community. Through this partnership, we aim to forge valuable connections and provide career development opportunities for young LGBTQ+ professionals. For those interested, our program will kick off in July, offering a month-long immersion into various businesses, mentorships, and open dialogues, creating a safe environment for conversation and growth. To sign up as a mentor: https://lnkd.in/epC5Rm7q To sign up as a mentee: https://lnkd.in/eNQmvFTv Questions? Email: onemonthmentors@theelephantroom.net Let's come together to foster and celebrate young creative talent!

In the words of one of the world’s most famous Wallabee wearers – NY rap legend, Wu-Tang member and our official Wallabee Day ambassador - Raekwon “WE NEED TO HAVE A WALLABEE DAY. WE NEED TO BE ABLE TO SAY TODAY IS THE DAY EVERYBODY THROWS THEIR JOINTS ON.” Today, we are excited to celebrate our inaugural Wallabee Day.     Legend has it that on 26th April 1971, an alarm was raised at New York’s John F Kennedy Airport, with customs teams rapidly assembling cages to accept the 4,176 Wallabees that were expected to arrive that day from Clarks. Customs called Clarks to check the animals were safe to handle and to discuss the lack of paperwork supplied to transport this number of live animals. There was a sense of relief (but also fury) when airport staff were informed that the crates did not, in fact, contain live animals, but the new Wallabee shoe silhouette. To honour our style that has shaken things up from day one, today we celebrate the first ever Wallabee Day, which will now take place annually on April 26th. Tara McRae, Chief Marketing & Digital Officer comments: “We are delighted to celebrate the launch of our first Wallabee Day. It’s such an iconic shoe loved by people across the world and has severed as a blank canvas to artists, creators and cultures over many generations. Wallabee Day allows us to celebrate not just the shoe, but also all of the collaborators who help us reinvent the story, year after year.” In the spirit of the incredible history of Wallabee adaptation, we’ve held a social media competition, for our community to submit Wallabees their way, with incredible artistic creativity being displayed. We’ve teamed up with some our best global partners to release exclusive adaptations of the Wallabee including DOE in Shanghai, Tobyato in Singapore, Paper Boy in Paris, Percival in London and X-Large in Tokyo. We’ve also worked with legendary New Jersey based retailer Packer Shoes for a custom photo editorial focused on the classic maple Wallabee In addition, we’ve held Wallabee Day activations with partners including Vibram in Boston, our Creative Specialist Set Free Richardson in New York, and at our stores in London, Beijing, and new flagship in Madrid. We are now busy planning our Wallabee Day celebration for April 26th 2025… so make sure to have your Wallabees ready. 

We are thrilled to announce that we have WON the 2024 Webby Award for best “AI, Metaverse & Virtual – Retail & Shopping” campaign for ‘Beyond Worlds: A Music Metaverse Experience’.   In May of 2023, we partnered with Empire Records and Nigerian superstar, Fireboy DML, to bring a one of a kind live digital concert experience to the metaverse, supported by Nigerian singer, Nissi and Cape Verdean American singer-songwriter, June Freedom. Fans were able to watch as the artists transcended the physical limitations of a real-world performance, bringing a magical and interactive show to life in three distinct worlds built uniquely to showcase each artist within the Metaverse. The campaign also showcased a strong commercial focus by highlighting our seasonal Jacquard pack product both during the concert, and by extending into Clarks Originals ecom and retail environments globally, with brand new campaign assets featuring Fireboy DML wearing the key styles. We are proud to receive this prestigious award (our first Webby Award for Clarks) and be recognized amongst 13,000 competing submissions, demonstrating that our almost 200-year-old brand is as pioneering today as it was in 1825! You can watch the full Beyond Worlds experience here - https://lnkd.in/e_v-_2qu

At Clarks, we have a long-standing history of supporting women’s rights, and this is continued to this day through constantly reflecting and looking at ways we can support global agendas to empower people with the freedom to move comfortably, as they are. This March 2024, in honour of international women’s month and its theme ‘inspire inclusion’, we once again collaborated with our partners, The Elephant Room , to craft a unique mentoring programme to facilitate long term, sustainable relationships and establish an empowering and supportive network for our female and non-binary mentees as they navigate their careers.

Today, we launch the latest installment of our “Clarks and …” video series, which explores the various global subcultures that have adopted our almost 200-year-old brand, with the release of Sunset: A Clarks and Manchester Film. This campaign celebrates the legacy of the underground rave scene of Manchester of the the 90s and dives into the relevance of Clarks in this influential subculture. The campaign centers around the Sunset film which serves as “A Love Letter to the Rave” and an uplifting tribute to the heady nights of the nineties. During this game-changing era, rave music met with a fresh wave of indie bands and bedroom producers to evoke a powerful new spirit of freedom across the country. Underground raves and super clubs like the Hacienda, inspired a worldwide dance movement, and Clarks can proudly say its shoes were often the footwear of choice for this free-thinking generation that loved to dance the night away. The campaign film, shot by director, Glenn Kitson, is a fitting tribute to the era when a great night out with friends could lead to endless possibilities. Take in the cars, fashion, club heroes, the Wallabee shoes that showed off those legendary dance moves, and the spirit of a new generation that still believes in the right to party. Regarding the campaign, Glenn Kitson says: “I’ve always worn Clarks, Wallabees in particular. They’re a staple of mine. The brand has genuine authenticity in so many communities and cultures, and for this project we wanted to explore rave culture, especially up North. It was important to join the dots between the past and the present and to show how echoes of the past are just as relevant with the youth of today. Featured throughout the campaign, you will see an assortment of our iconic Clarks originals styles as well as products from our SS24 collection inspired by the spirit of the rave, including our brand new Yin-Yang collection, released just in time for summer. This campaign is an ode to the rave culture that is now embedded in the soul of the city and still enjoyed all over the world. Inspired by Manchester then, ready for the party now.

In 2023 we launched PLAYPRINTS World on Roblox, where it quickly garnered 3.8 million game plays and later went on to win Best Metaverse Activation at The Drum Awards. Aligning with the launch of our newest PLAYPRINTS styles featuring print soles and kids' favourite characters, today, in partnership with Super League , we’re thrilled to launch a new update to PLAYPRINTS World on Roblox. In our updated game early learners can once again explore, create, learn and play in this fun, immersive space and get to know the unique characters as they conquer the new quest. Dream it. Make it. Play it. Play the game: https://lnkd.in/eDVHAHBj Shop the collection: https://lnkd.in/eu6Yas6B