When it comes to classic Clarks shoes, there are a few unshakeable truths. The upper is suede, the laces are tonal, the sole is crepe. Ya can't change that. Unless you're quite literally the greatest collaborator in the world.

Welp, that's BEAMS in a nutshell, so GG, ya'll. Pack it in. Your wimpy Clarks can't compare.

BEAMS BOY, the Japanese retailer's paradoxically named young-women's label, turned out one of the baddest Clarks you ever done saw, and it has almost none of the recognizable touches you'd come to expect.

Pretty blue laces! A grippy Vibram sole! And GORE-TEX lining that flips the soft upper into something utterly waterproof.

The result is still a Clarks classic but it's actually way better. The crepe sole, pliable and squishy, is quintessential Clarks but who knew it'd be better to bury that thing under a badass hard-rubber stomper? BEAMS did, obviously.

What I especially like is that, compared to other revisionary waterproof and even Vibram-soled Clarks, BEAMS BOY's end result looks almost exactly like the OG but not. It's recognizable as the source material except it performs better and looks ever so slightly more badass. Now, that's how you do a collaboration.

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