Are garden clogs this winter's it shoe? After the summer of jelly shoes, it's time for the Dutch shoe

Fashion loves gardening

Having a green thumb is an interest shared by many names in the fashion system. Dries Van Noten has never hidden his obsession for tending the flowers in the immense greenhouse surrounding his home in Antwerp, Ann Demeulemeester has said she has dedicated herself to her personal vegetable garden after stepping away from the scene and John Galliano has spoken about using gardening as a form of care during his struggles with addiction.

But the world of gardening has inspired many designers throughout their careers. The first ever was undoubtedly Balenciaga who, in the 1950s, created a white linen gardening outfit for socialite Mona Bismarck, who spent a lot of time tending to her plants. Today, thanks to the major comeback of workwear, designers seem to favour the technical and functional aspect that the trend evokes.

The most recent expression of gardencore can be seen in the growing presence of garden clogs on the runway. These garden shoes, often made in rubber or leather, are becoming true luxury footwear loved for their comfort and practicality by many celebrities such as Jennifer Lawrence, Bella Hadid and Rihanna, who have helped turn garden clogs into the new it shoes.

What are “garden clogs”?

This footwear has a very ancient history: it was originally made of wood by Dutch farmers who needed shoes that were resistant to impact and could insulate from cold and humidity while working in the fields. It is precisely from the structure of traditional Dutch klompen that, in the 1990s, this shoe began to be produced using lighter materials and easier to clean than wood, such as rubber and polymer foam.

In this regard, the creation of modern garden clogs is attributed to the intuition of the American couple Peter Kjellerup and Mandy Cabot who, during a trip to Denmark, discovered the shoe and, working to improve its comfort, launched their own brand. Still today, Dansko is among the most appreciated brands for this type of product, worn by a broad and diverse audience ranging from farmers and gardeners to healthcare workers.

Another brand that became relatively famous first among French workwear enthusiasts and then on TikTok, also winning the honors of the fashion press, is the Gardana hemp clog from the sustainable brand Plasticana. A clog that looks like it's made of brownish plastic but is almost shaped like a formal shoe, it has become an “if you know, you know” item in the industry in recent years.

Garden clogs on the runway

The rise of garden clogs on the runway is the natural outcome of a fashion landscape that has already embraced functional slip-on footwear like Crocs, Birkenstock Boston and Scholl’s Clog Evo, long perceived as the contemporary version of the clog. However, some luxury brands have distanced themselves from the more humble and massified representation of this shoe by reinterpreting it with their own personal twist.

Louise Trotter, for example, in her debut show for Bottega Veneta, created a glossy version of the traditional Dutch clog, presented in the brand’s signature green and paired with fluid, dynamic skirts. Chemena Kamali at Chloé reimagines the klompen through a boho lens, creating her studded, wooden-wedge Jeanette, while Ganni taps into the trend by pairing the shoe with cottagecore looks.

In this vein, the brand Lee Mathews includes the shoes in its latest summer collection, pairing them with vichy dresses and countryside-style aprons. The comeback of garden clogs has also influenced menswear: Loro Piana offers a suede version that almost resembles a slipper, while Nanushka shows gardener-style clogs worn with shorts and utility jackets.

The shoe of the winter

In several cases, the maisons use clogs to openly reference the fisherman-core aesthetic. TWP, for instance, shows rubber shoes as a summer alternative to classic fishing boots, paired with long skirts, bermuda shorts and bucket hats. At Undercover, garden clogs come either in a metallic gold effect or with flowers painted on the front, and the fisherman hat is replaced with either a straw hat with chin strap or a crochet beanie.

Others play with the shape of the toe: at CFCL, the shoes are round and suede, almost resembling horse hooves, while Toga and Ahluwalia create a pointed version that recalls a mule reinterpretation of a cowboy boot.

Finally, Miuccia Prada embraces the "ugliness" of the shoe and frames it as a symbol of feminine workwear. Her version for the Miu Miu girl, a hybrid between a wooden clog and a classic leather boot, has cemented garden clogs as the brand’s new it shoes.

Takeaways

– Maisons are reinterpreting garden clogs as a new aesthetic space, using refined materials and technical details to elevate a work shoe into a desirable object.

– Each brand brings its own sensibility: Bottega Veneta favours glossy minimalism, Chloé takes a handcrafted boho perspective, and Ganni and Lee Mathews lean into a more domestic and everyday imagery.

– From Loro Piana’s suede versions to the sharp silhouettes by Toga and Ahluwalia, and the irreverent approach of Miu Miu, clogs are becoming a canvas on which designers rewrite the relationship between functionality, fashion and nature.