The Two Sides of Today's Birkenstock
Birkenstock exists in an interesting space between the now and then, one optometrist-approved foot sat in the German footwear company's centuries-old heritage and the other squarely in the present. This balance is key to how Birkenstock has navigated contemporary trends and tastes, lassoing big-time collaborators, instantly sold-out drops, and hugely viral moments.
The dichotomy of Birkenstock is perhaps best epitomized by the sandal and clog designs that it's issuing for Spring/Summer 2024.
On the legacy side of things, there's Birkenstock 1774, the label's highest-tier offering in terms of both price and quality. 1774 is reinvented each season with specific styles and makes unlikely to be repeated ever again.
Birkenstock 1774 also typically dishes luxe iterations of shapes both familiar — double-strapped Arizona slides, strappy clogs — and exotic, like when it reintroduced the Tokio mule for Spring/Summer 2023.
SS24 is an even greater evolution, as Birkenstock 1774 drops two entirely new styles alongside a fancy Arizona and Tokio: the 33 Dougal and 222 West.
Both are enigmatically named, both transform the timeless Boston clog into something new.
Birkenstock's 33 Dougal is a slimmed-down, sleeked-up mule with a one-piece leather upper while the 222 West is a wild clog that fuses Arizona straps atop the Boston's slip-on shape.
They're worn in the accompanying campaign by New York-based creatives Rafael Prieto, Coco Gordon Moore, Louis Mueller, and Cassi Namoda. The seasonal theme is restless transformation, fittingly.
As Birkenstock's press release explains, 1774's SS24 line "commemorates the interplay between functional design and adaptability that characterized downtown New York during the transformative 70s and 80s."
It's a fittingly mutable ethos for Birkenstock itself, really, as it's constantly remixing its own time-tested, podiatrist-approved creations.
Consider the other big Spring/Summer 2024 push: Birkenstock's Zurich Tech sandal, which updates the sublimely wearable 60-year-old Zurich slide with tech-y straps (bye bye, buckles) and an EVA outsole.
These two disparate drops, available February 22 from Birkenstock's website (for the Zurich) and March 14 from the 1774 web store, reflect the yin and yang of today's Birkenstock.
This is a thoroughly modern company with an eye for newness but it's also an institution of the highest order, proud of its proven track record and also not afraid to mess with success.
