Crocs will be 'stylish' part of Olympic uniform

The New Zealand O)lympics team will sport Crocs around the Olympic village.

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SHOES FROM Crocs, the much-maligned plastic clog manufacturer, will be worn by New Zealand Olympians as part of their official uniform a decision that has appalled prominent fashionistas.

Female athletes will wear the "sueded alice" model a suede-topped, plastic-soled shoe for the opening ceremony and all athletes will wear the "beach" model a version of the famous plastic slipper with holes in around the games village.

Olympic chef de mission Dave Currie confirmed the sueded alice Crocs would form part of the official uniform being unveiled at a function at an Auckland winery on April 30. He said the opening ceremony Crocs would be "very stylish" and "not the ones with the holes in them", and an athlete design panel had collaborated on the uniform choice, which he described as "sensational".

However, fashion designer Denise L'Estrange Corbet says she is horrified the Olympic athletes will wear Crocs.

"They are the ugliest piece of footwear ever invented. I know people who wear them say they are comfortable, but I'm sure there are more comfortable shoes that you can put on your feet to make your feet look attractive, not the ugliest, widest green feet on the planet.

"They are actually one thing I would like to put in a pile and blow up." She says a New Zealand-designed shoe would be more appropriate.

"All the other Olympic teams will look smart and wear trainers, and we'll be plodding along with these big, plastic, ugly, hideous, vile things. They are so ugly they should be banned. You might as well put a couple of bricks on your feet," she said.

Designer Jane Daniels wouldn't comment on the Olympic shoes but thought the original Crocs would join a host of other fashion nightmares from recent years.

"I'm sure people will look back on this era and wonder what we were thinking with long, baggy shorts, heavy footwear and Crocs."

John Robertson, the sales director for New Zealand women's shoe manufacturer Kumfs, says he doesn't have a particular problem with Crocs or the fact they are made overseas, because 98% of the country's shoes are not manufactured in New Zealand.

"But it would have been nice to have a shot at supplying [the female athletes]," he said.

Crocs have been attacked not only as a style disaster, but also for creating static electricity shocks, getting caught in escalators and being too dangerous for hospital staff to wear.

Originally invented in 2002 by three Americans as a boat shoe, they went worldwide the following year and finally reached New Zealand in 2005.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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Patsy Zohs   #3   05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

These shoes are a crock and for the Olympic team to be wearing them is a direct contradiction to New Zealand's clean green image.Plastic is one of the biggest concerns regarding recycling.No one is going to name a race horse croc as it implies that the horse has broken down. Don't put the kibosh on our athletes with this fashion joke. Who the hell O.K'd this?.Crocs are out of fashion and out of line.

Lani Lewis   #2   05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

Crocs?!!!! Are you insane. I was under the illusion that they were apart of some hillbilly gardening culture?! And now not only do I have 2 watch nz get kicked in nearly every event, we have to do it in crocs? I suffer for fashion, and would like to think of my self as a visual feast for eyes...and now infront of millions of veiwers I have to watch nations suffer for comfort? Wear slippers for gosh sakes, this is a crime agains humanity!

trev   #1   05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

Very sorry to hear that the New Zealand olympic squad will not be wearing 'real' shoes. We ex-pat Kiwis living in the U.S. have organised a whip-round for our brothers and sisters back home in the socialist utopia. We expect to raise enough for decent footwear thats made in china!

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