Patta has spent two decades building a reputation on Nike collaborations, mostly on the Air Max 1 and the Air Max 90. A Crocs project is not what anyone was expecting from Amsterdam.
It also makes more sense than it first sounds, because Patta did not pick the ordinary clog.
Patta x Crocs Classic EXP Clog
Desert camo upper, Vibram outsole
Release date: not yet announced
Why the Vibram Sole Changes It
The base here is the Classic EXP Clog, the rugged version Crocs added to the range a few months ago with a Vibram outsole. Vibram makes soles for hiking boots and climbing shoes, so putting one under a foam clog is the sort of joke that stops being a joke the first time you walk down a wet slope in a normal pair.
Patta keeps the outsole black and matches it with a black webbing heel strap, buckled and carrying a small Patta tab. That is a quieter choice than it looks. The standard EXP tends to contrast the sole against the upper, and running both in black lets the camo do the talking while making the shoe read as a piece of gear rather than a novelty.
The upper is done in a desert camo print over a cream base. Camo has been part of Patta's vocabulary for years, and on a moulded clog it behaves differently to how it behaves on canvas, because the print wraps a shape with no panels and no seams to break it up.
The Details That Give It Away
A large graffiti-inspired Patta logo accessory sits flush with the forefoot, filling the vent holes rather than sitting on top of them. It is the closest thing the shoe has to branding, and it is the part that will tell you what you are looking at from across a room.
The Jibbitz carry the actual message. One is a brick wall reading "tear down the wall". Another is a red hourglass reading "time's up". For a brand that has always put text on its products, that is on script, and it is more interesting than a set of charms shaped like the logo.
None of this is Patta's first move outside Nike, but it is one of the few where the partner brand's own new technology, rather than an archive silhouette, is the reason the collaboration exists.
Patta x Crocs Classic EXP Clog Release
No release date for the Patta x Crocs Classic EXP Clog has been announced yet. The pair was revealed through Patta's own channels, which usually means a date follows within a few weeks rather than months.
Patta releases tend to move quickly in Europe, particularly anything tied to Amsterdam, and a first Crocs project will pull in buyers from outside the usual sneaker audience.
In the meantime, the full Patta range on KLEKT runs to more than two hundred pairs, including the Nike x Patta Air Max 1 SP 'Chlorophyll' and the Nike x Patta Air Max 90 Waves 'Cyber'.
Check out Patta on KLEKT.
Images: @geepatta
