Even at Retirement Age, the Birkenstock Clog Is Somehow Still Cooking
As anyone within Berlin can attest, there’s no summer shoe quite like Birkenstock. Germany’s preeminent sandal brand has been the king of the season for decades, its signature clogs and sandals appearing on the feet of everyone from streetwear-clad kids to elderly grandparents to families going for a swim at one of the many lakes just outside city limits.
So it's not quite a hot take to posit that Birkenstock is cool. No, Birkenstock has been cool — but it's never stopped cooking, even with its most classic shoes.
Nowhere is that more apparent than with its iconic Boston clog, an extremely simple pairing of a leather upper, rubber sole, and its signature cork footbed. The shoe, first introduced in 1976, has shown its range this year as it celebrates its big 50th anniversary.
Behold, a middle-aged shoe absolutely popping off as it goes all-in on experimentation.
Birkenstock’s latest collaboration with South Korean label Ader Error via the upscale 1774 line gives the Boston two distinct revamps, via a “Cap” model that gives the front a utilitarian leather cap and a “Flap” model that, you guessed it, adds an elongated flap to the upper that’s affixed with white whipstitching. The two new takes join a packed bench of collaborative takes on the Boston, including a cowboy embroidered iteration from ETRO.
Even Birkenstock itself is innovating hardcore. Hidden among its dozens of OG models — in beige and black nubuck or suede or oiled leather, with shearling lining or chunkier soles — are some fascinatingly funky prints. You can buy a Boston in leopard-printed leather or snakeskin suede, covered in rivets or turned inside-out. There’s even a sporty “Crosstown” hybrid meant for the outdoors.
Not to be ageist, but this level of creativity is genuinely surprising given we’re talking about a 252-year-old shoemaker (from Germany, no less!). The Boston isn’t coasting by on its well-deserved reputation as a particularly comfortable clog, nor is it in some midlife crisis.
Rather, it’s building on its anatomically blessed foundation, adding some spice here and there to a recipe it perfected decades ago.
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