Stay Rooted in Heritage

"One of the strengths of any business is heritage; an understanding of what the business stood for. It is a huge value to the designers to go back and see the great products of the past; a lot of the best sellers now are reinterpreted products of the past." - Lancelot Clark, designer and a direct descendant of the original founders

When quality brands stay rooted in their heritage and constantly draw inspiration from what their brand was first built upon, that is something to aspire to.  By not being swayed by the latest trends, that is how brand longevity is staged in the industry. Whether that be through the techniques, fabric or process used, sticking through with what made the brand big in the first place will always be the right way to go because THAT process is what truly defined the brand - see it as a brand's own bildungsroman.

"Things have happened in the past that have been forgotten about and some of those things shouldn't have been forgotten about because they are as useful now as they were then."

With that being said, I was super happy to see the iconic Clarks brand highlighted in a collaboration with Staple Design (not the other way around), as founder/creative director Jeff Staple pays homage to one of the greatest shoe families to have done shoe-making the right way. Nestled in the humble roots of the rural Shire county, Somerset has been the Clarks' home for decades and truly reflects the low-key, organic approaches of the company faith. (Just how gorgeous is the UK countryside, mate?)

Jeff accurately taps into this collaboration by staying true to the Clarks roots by being mindful of just how much contemporary in futuristic elements he should be adding to the classic Clarks Original Wallabees. By bringing a story that bridges the past, present and future, Staple appropriately brings forth: creating a classic model under a collaborative name; showcasing a model with a contemporary twist (no pun intended); and lastly, offering an entirely fresh perspective to a classic through a novel helix design to the entire model.

Reinterpretations of classics are welcomed; renewals are not. 

A brand becomes short-term when they are constantly changing their image and products based off of the latest trends on the fashion market. You simply can't please everyone and have that last for long. Rather, focus on building a solid foundation to your own image - one that you would hold on to for dear life - and building layer after layer on top of that. I am proud to say that Clarks is one brand that still holds true to this philosophy - now that is something worth highlighting.