Martine Rose’s appointment as Clarks’ first-ever guest creative director makes perfect sense for a number of reasons, not least because the 42-year-old is currently one of the industry’s most exciting designers.
Rose — who founded her eponymous label back in 2007 — has found herself the subject of countless creative director rumors over the past few years, including succeeding Virgil Abloh as artistic director of Louis Vuitton menswear.
However, per WWD, the British-Jamaican designer has instead joined forces with Clarks as a part of a new generation for the label, a move that will see her debut three reimagined footwear styles from the Somerset brand’s archives during her men’s show next month.
The report also reveals that the first three silhouettes Rose will be revamping is the loafer, Oxford shoe, and a sandal. To us that means classic school shoes, but injected with a tsunami of color.
For clarity, Clarks isn’t the same as Clarks Originals, the label responsible for silhouettes like the Wallabee and Desert Trek. Where Clarks Originals is renowned for its collaborations and takes on heritage designs, Clarks (a.k.a Clarks Shoes) is better known for its affordable, more contemporary styles.
This, though, shouldn’t take anything away from Rose’s appointment as guest creative director. If anything, the fact that less is known about this more modern side of the brand only adds to the move's intrigue.
Longtime followers of Rose will know that her rise has been a long time coming.
Since starting her own label sixteen years ago, Rose has been awarded the NEWGEN MEN prize in 2014 and was shortlisted for the LVMH Prize three years later, before being named BFC‘s British Menswear Designer of the Year two years on the bounce (2017 & 2018).
All that alongside working with Balenciaga’s Demna Gvasalia as a creative consultant to aid the launch of the Spanish house’s menswear back in 2015, and it’s easy to see why a designer with Rose’s clout has been in such high-demand.
A move to Clarks, though? Nobody saw that coming. Although it’s refreshing to see and the shoe certainly fits.
As well as an injection of color, Rose will likely still included plenty of nods to the rave, hip-hop, and punk subcultures she's become renowned for.
Exactly what this looks like on a trio of inherently classic-looking silhouettes is anybody’s guess (we're thinking bright and vibrant loafers, maybe with a few accessories?!), but the fact Rose is doing it all with Clarks Shoes, as opposed to Clarks Originals, is what’s most exciting from where I’m sitting.
