Steven Smith Made His Crocs Shoe Better Than the Foam Run…

Steven Smith is the sneaker equivalent of dropping Mentos in a Coca-Cola. His designs are explosive. His career has lasted nearly 40 years in the footwear industry. From New Balance, to Adidas, to Reebok, to Nike, to Yeezy, and now to Crocs. He’s designed gamechanging, genre-defining sneakers at each stop. The 997 and 550 at New Balance. The Instapump Fury at Reebok. The Air Max 2009 at Nike. And the Waverunner and Foam Runner at Yeezy. Now he’s at Crocs and his first shoe, the Ripple, is set to debut at ComplexCon this weekend.

It’s a slip-on shoe and it’s made of foam. But it’s a new direction for Crocs. It has that late ‘90s, early 2000s design language that Smith is known for. It’s a literal ripple, as each side of the shoe has two big ripples on the upper. Smith wants the shoe to represent the rock he’s throwing into Crocs’ right now.

And yes, the shoe is Jibbitz compatible—if you were wondering.

We got a chance to talk to Smith ahead of the release where he reflects on making the Ripple, his time at Yeezy, and the future.

What was the starting point with designing the Ripple?
It was kind of funny for me. I have a strong belief that when you go to a new company, I’m not there to change it. I’m there to show them what they can be to broaden the scope and the reach of what the brand is. So for me, it was the ability to create a new look. And that’s what I like. You think about Dior, and there was the new look. And Dior did that. And to me, this was a new look for Crocs, a way to expand their business. And also as a first intro for me as this new department head within a new department within Crocs, as opposed to a collaborator, so it’s kind of a new thing for them to have this team.

And so I wanted to create this fully-molded future vision for what Crocs could be as it expands into a broader market than the traditional classic clog. So that’s what it was. It is very science fiction, the sci-fi I grew up on, which was very clean and futuristic looking and optimistic for a future, as opposed to a pessimistic future of aliens and monsters killing you. It was more 2001: A Space Odyssey, this beautiful white, futuristic, sleek product, and heavily influenced by Sid Meade. He’s always been a huge influence on me. And Tron and that vision.

You mentioned those points, but then how did you come up with the circular look?
What I was alluding to was you don’t want to come in and be this massive wave on this new brand, switch it up completely because then you risk damaging the DNA of what the brand is. And for me, that has always been how I operated to show a company what they can be as opposed to turn them into what I think they ought to be, because not right either, because then it’s Steven, it’s not Crocs. So for me, it’s an expansion of Crocs.

And so I looked at it as I came in, rather than create this wave, it’s a ripple effect of a pebble being dropped into a lake. And the lake is Crocs, and I’m that pebble, creating these ripple effects that then will potentially influence a new direction for where Crocs can head, as opposed to moving things over to here, over there, and then you lose your core competency of who you are. Never forget who you are.

What was the biggest challenge with making the Ripple?
I don’t know. I don’t know if there really was one. I mean, they were very open to trying anything, and they’ve got an amazing development team, and a counterpart they assigned to me. And it was like, “Yeah, yeah, yeah. We’ve always loved to do things. Yeah, look, we always want to do this. We want to do that. The factory will love it.” And so it was a very open environment. And that was very refreshing, and it kind of … Yeah, I guess … I don’t know. I don’t know if there was any real challenge. This was new territory for them because more of a sport last rather than the bigger club last. I guess that’s one of the things, right? Is changing the shape slightly.

You’ve done the Foam Runner in the past, but I feel like a lot of your projects with different footwear brands, the sneakers physically have a lot of pieces to them. And now, you’re in a design language that, it’s a one-piece shoe for the most part. Is that a big change for you to not have to think in components on the shoe?
No, I don’t think so. You think a lot of the Yeezy things, I mean, ultimately, the last stuff we were doing is he wanted everything so simplified that it was almost generic. Each brand has its own DNA to use, and I think that’s where I’ve been successful is kind of a creative chameleon for each company. And this is, it’s just a different toolbox and different recipe.

What Jibbitz are you putting in your Crocs?
Right now I had to focus on some special ones for it. But I know in the intro kit, I had a vision for this because I looked at where the Foam Runner was worn, and it was a lot of medical people as well as kitchen workers and chefs. And I created this kind of semi-functional Jibbitz piece that has the same ripple aesthetic, and it plugs the top holes, so things can’t drop in there like liquids and bodily fluids, or syringes and things. So it is kind of a decorative, thematic piece, but it also serves a function.

What was the biggest difference between doing this one and the Foam Runner, a similar style of shoe?
This one allowed me the ability to do very, very technical construction, because if you look at it closer, the footbed and then the two side panels, it’s actually kind of a T-shape. And those kind of drop in, and then pop through for the softer compound. So that multi-density compound is something that we weren’t able to do at that point in time with the Yeezy product as well as whatever restrictions Adidas had on me.

Do you feel working with Crocs that you have more freedom? What’s the difference between that and all the Adidas stuff?
One of the reasons why I chose to go to Crocs was that offer they made to me of being able to continue that freedom I had to create with Ye, without the restrictions Adidas put on it. Because at the end, whatever Ye and I created, ended up going through some Adidas funnel. This way, being embedded within the company itself, they want me to teach them new ways to work and create. And so taking those things that we brought to Yeezy, and expanding a different way to work. I think that’s what Crocs has allowed me, that, like, “We don’t want to harm you or harm that creative process. We want you to share that with us and the way you work and the success that you’ve had.” So they embraced it.

Do you feel any sort of difference being at a major footwear brand right now, but not being at a Nike or an Adidas or a Reebok or a major athletic footwear brand? Do you feel like a difference with Crocs in that sense?
Yeah, there’s definitely a freedom, and there’s a desire for the new and for growth, and it’s what I’ve brought to companies. I mean, Yeezy was a $300 million business. And by the time I was done designing with Ye, it had grown to $3 billion. So I mean, there’s opportunity there, and they see this. Whereas you go to a larger company, it’s very static. It’s like turning the Titanic around. And it’s not easy. There’s constraints, there’s restrictions, there’s complacency, and there’s safety and non-risk taking. There’s levity to Crocs, which is what really appealed to me. It was fun.

Crocs, in the past few years, has become huge for licensing collaborations. Do you see any of that happening on your work or is there any sort of licensing thing, maybe like a Hello Kitty Steven Crocs, or something of that sort?
Stay tuned. It’s opened a lot of doors, me coming there, to alternative people and companies and collabs than Crocs has worked with. So I’ve got some really interesting ones that have reached out and approached me, so stay tuned. And of course, the old favorites Sanrio, BAPE, the possibilities are endless.

Do you feel like anything that motivates you, like you still have something left to prove to the footwear industry?
No, it’s just I want to make cool stuff that people like and want to wear, that’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. It’s pretty simple. I never thought too much about it. I want to make cool, comfortable stuff, and that’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. Things I’d like to wear myself, but I think that’s one of the hardest things for a designer. I don’t design for myself, but it’s definitely something I would want to wear, if that makes sense? Because I’ve seen other designers at Nike in the past who are like, “Oh, it’s just another $65 shoe, who cares?” I’m like, “What do you mean ‘who cares’? if you don’t love it, how do you expect a consumer to want it?” And so that’s the way I’ve always approached this thing, if I were that consumer, what would I really want? Would I want this? And so far, when we’ve teased this model, the reaction’s been 99 percent positive, which is great. I’m very happy with that.