Clarks: Hip-hop's Long Standing Relationship with a British Shoemaker
Clarks have always been a part of the culture in one way or another. On a Fall day, especially in New York, you’ll likely see someone in a pair of “Wally’s” at some point.
You can style them in a ton of ways too.
Wearing jeans? No problem. Chinos? C’mon, man.
And above all, they’ve got a ton of different styles of boots. In short, Clarks are ubiquitous (SAT words in full effect today).
And while watching a show about Hip-Hop, on Hulu, I was informed that Clarks were indeed a hip-hop shoe.
Of course that prompted a deep dive, and in the process I stumbled upon the rich history for one of Hip-Hop’s (and New York, specifically) favorite shoes.
Y’all know the vibes! Let’s get into it…
In 1825…
Two brothers living in Somerset, England named Cyrus and James Clark, decided to embark on the adventure of a lifetime.
Cyrus, who had a tanning business, decide to close it down to join forces with James and together they created Clarks — aptly named after themselves.
The first shoe together was a sheepskin slipper called the Brown Petersburg, which you can see below.
Over the years, the Clarks brothers built a reputation for making high-quality, comfortable shoes, and eventually expanded their product line to include the iconic Desert Boot, designed by Nathan Clark, a descendant of the founders, in 1949.
Fun Fact: Clarks is still a family-owned brand, which probably explains how they’re able to maintain their status.
But with that said, let’s talk about how Clarks became popular.
JAMAICA IS THE REASON…
You can’t mention Clarks without mentioning Jamaica. Point blank.
The lineage of Clarks dates back to the 20s and British Colonialism1. As they spread throughout the nation, Jamaicans developed an affinity for Clarks as a fashionable shoe, and the Rude Boys in Jamaica adopted the Desert Boot as a part of their style.
Over time, Clarks became as favorable to Jamaicans as Uptowns were to New Yorkers (Uptowns are White Air Force. 1’s - just fyi)
Clarks were also THE shoe of dancehall artists, and they still receive a ton of respect from artists from the diaspora today.
The shoes became so popular that people would find ways to rock them despite Jamaica instituting a country-wide ban on foreign-made shoes in the 70s.
These same dancehall artists and their fans eventually migrated from Jamaica to the United States in the late 60s following the Civil Rights Movement.
More Specifically, they would travel to:
New York.
As Immigrants from the Caribbeans began migrating to New York in a large numbers the demographic shift led to cultural shifts that trickled all the way down to style of shoe.
But how does this include Hip-hop?
Well. If you’ll recall the founding of Hip-hop, it was founded in New York in the 70’s and the culture also has Caribbean roots.
DJ Kool Herc, widely recognized as the founder of Hip-hop, is from Jamaica and is part of the migratory group that made its way to New York in the late 60s. As the culture he helped found made its way across the world, so did its Caribbean roots and fashion choices.
With that, Clarks began to create a foothold in New York.
Which brings us to the 80s…
“I migrated from Mitcham Surrey to New York (specifically The Bronx) where I was surrounded by Jamaicans wearing Wallys… Hip Hop introduced Clarks to the world on a global scale.” - Slick Rick, Hypebeast
As Clarks were becoming a shoe of choice culturally Hip-hop as a genre of music was beginning to come into its own commercially.
The 80s saw the rise of an English rapper named Slick Rick.
Rick was definitely a fan of Clarks, and more specifically a fan of one shoe in their product line: The Wallabee
His influence and imprint on hip-hop helped to evangelize the love for “Wally’s” in the North, and they became a signature part of his style. HIs influence set the stage for an even bigger look.
Shortly after Slick Rick hit the scene, a group of guys hailing from Staten Island took the world by storm.
Of course, it was none other than…
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu members like Raekwon could often be seen wearing Wallabees, and members like Method Man would go on to mention Wallabees in their lyrics which bolstered their popularity. And although different members of Wu admired the shoe, Ghostface Killah became the Wallabee Champion.
Not only wore Wallabees a part of his everyday fashion, but he had multi-colored Wallabees that were custom-dipped by a shop-owner in NY who sent all of his Clarks over the years.
If you don’t believe me, look below at the cover for Ghostface Killah’s 2nd album, “Ironman” — see all those Clarks at the bottom? Ghost took it to another level.
And though Ghost was quite literally a champion for Wallabees, he wasn’t the only one rocking the brand. New York rappers like Styles P could be routinely seen wearing Clarks, and to this day, he mentions them as one of his favorite shoes.
Over the years, Hip-hop has continued to embrace the Wallabees because of what 90s rappers started.
NOW CLARK’S IS LEANING IN. HEAVY.
Slick Rick x Mind, Body, Sole
In homage to Slick Rick who helped kick off the wave, Clarks did a partnership with him in 2018 which gave him his own custom line of Clark Wallabees in different colorways, along with some dope BTS content to talk about the partnership (seen below).
October’s Very Own x Clarks
Everyone knows that Drake has an affinity for Caribbean culture in general.
Jamaica’s relationship with Canada is super strong, and Drake is a backpack rapper at heart. He’s so much of student of the culture that he was likely aware of the fandom around Wally’s (and Clarks, in general)
Because of that, it made perfect sense for Clarks to approach him with his own line called:
“Made in England”
Though fans quickly dubbed them the “OVO Clarks” the shoe shows how in tune with culture that Clarks is and it proved to be a great partnership for them in many ways.
WU-WEAR x CLARKS
And of course for rap’s most commercially successful group Clarks had to do an extend partnership with Wu-Wear.
On top of an original pair of Yellow Wu-Tang-themed Wallabees, Clarks refreshed the partnership with new colorways that exist on their site to this very day. Wu-members Ghostface Killah and Raekwon were also featured heavily in a recent content piece from Clarks that outlines their influence on the brand and pays homage to the trend they started. What’s better than that?
EPILOGUE
If you couldn’t tell from above, Clarks have a steep history in hip-hop, and in dancehall for that matter.
I don’t thank New York for many things (they gotta stop hating on the south so hard first), but I will say that they did justice with bringing Clarks into the mix.
Who’s to say who the potential next partnership/collab from Clarks will be with, but suffice to say that it’ll be something worth remembering.
I’ll probably pick up a pair soon. Haven’t worn them in a while.
Peace.