Squishy, lightweight, slip-on mules are becoming impossible to escape. You can hardly go a week without a new one being announced.
The mule-ment (a word invented by the @muleboyz) has caused many sneakers and formal leather shoes to have their backs chopped off over the past few years. However, in recent months, the mule-based movement has been extending its influence to foam-crafted footwear in a big way.
Tech-focused running brands, outdoor hiking labels, and heritage footwear makers have all been trying their hand at creating foam mules of late. And, if the truth be told, there’s not a huge amount of deviation in design to split them apart.
Take a look at the so-called foam runner teased last month by Nike’s Jordan Brand line, for example, and then have a peek at HOKA's foam mules released just a couple of weeks later — there’s not a huge difference between them, right?
And it’s not just Nike and HOKA releasing futuristic foam footwear of this ilk: Crocs recently made a similar pair of white-colored clogs, Oakley Factory Team has hermit crab-inspired slip-ons, and Merrell 1TRL's new collection sees it expand its outdoor-focused range of foam clogs.
Brands from every corner of the footwear industry have been getting involved, causing the foam mule market to expand at a rate of knots.
Most recently, even Vans announced it’s joining in the fun with its high-end OTW line. Vans may be best known for its vulcanized skate shoes but it has two heelless mono-material foam slip-ons coming out.
One model is a paired-back, minimal design that could almost be the lovechild of Fear of God's foam mules and Birkenstock's Boston sandal (another shoe available in EVA foam, FYI).
Meanwhile, the other Vans OTW mule is a chunky, borderline sculptural shoe with sharp edges and a huge blocked toe akin to Matthew M. Williams' tech-y Nike clogs.
Crocs is no longer the only brand churning out foam clogs (although it is still the market leader) — almost every footwear label currently has its own version.
And to work out how we got to this point of foam mule saturation, you have to rewind the clock a bit. I’d go back as far as the early-2010s for when the seed was first sewn.
It was a time when the sneaker landscape looked very different, when simply pairing white socks with adidas slides was a fashion statement.
Socks and sandals slowly became a trend during the 2010s with A$AP Rocky and Travis Scott-approved models such as the Suicoke Moto Cab and visvim Christo leading the charge.
Then, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, slip-on shoes gained unprecedented popularity.
Chunky slides and Crocs' foam Clogs became part of the work-from-home uniform during lockdowns, YEEZY’s foam sandals were suddenly everywhere, and after, as tastes went GORP, it was time for the foam recovery slide.
Years after the COVID-19 pandemic, foam slip-on shoes have proven to have a long shelf life.
Being ultra-comfortable has undoubtedly helped make the spongy, easy-to-slip-on footwear not be another fleeting pandemic-induced trend — as has its distinct look.
The single-fabric footwear ditches all the conventions of traditional shoemaking: there are no stitches, no laces, and no difference in the material of the sole and the upper. This unconventional construction, paired with streamlined ridges and a sporty shape, gives foam mules their continued novelty.
The futuristic-looking design of the aforementioned foam mules is a new proposition for the sneaker industry and one that we're quite comfortable with — literally.
