How Clarks And New York City Icons Are Chronicling The Iconic Wallabee Shoe

By Cassell Ferere originally published on Forbes.com

Friday, May 6, shoemaker of the signature Wallabee, Clarks Originals hosted a screening of the short-form version of the street-style documentary film Clarks and New York: Soles of the City. Among footwear, the Wallabee has been a gem in the wardrobe of street fashion spanning a variety of style aesthetics, cultural foundations, and footwear prowess for the elevated consumer.

The Soles of the City is an expansion on the narrative that stems from mostly urban cultures who gravitated towards the Clarks Originals shoe design. Previously in 2012, a book titled Clarks In Jamaica gave viewers an understanding of the sartorial effect that Clarks Originals and the Desert Boot, specifically, have had on culture in Kingston, and Jamaican culture as a whole, expanding the pages in a 2021 edition.

The documentary has now brought visual story-telling of the culture-shifting effects of Clarks to the big screen and is teasing a log form version diving into and crediting the New York City Caribbean and hip hop scene to the global success of the Wallabee. Much to that, the film is produced and directed by a legendary street culture maven and New Yorker, Set Free Richardson, and led by the Clarks Originals team.

In the documentary film, a slew of hip hop’s most notable individuals and groups, and street fashion originators, would chronicle their experience with the Clarks Originals Wallabee, reflecting on the classic staple and its utility in the urban setting. The Wallabee shoe is deified, seen as a "trophy" described by Jadakiss, who narrated the film. The film features the likes of Wu-Tang Clan’s Ghostface Killah and Raekwon, Styles P from the rap trio The LOX, rapper Dave East who stars in Wu-Tang: An Ameircan Saga as Method man, streetwear connoisseur Bahr Brown, founder of Walker Wear April Walker, graffiti artist Futura, New York City-based stylist Danie Sierra, founder of KITH Ronnie Fieg, and founder of Sweet Chick John Seymour, some of who were in the screening room.…