Liam Gallagher Didn't Just Revive a Genius Clarks Shoe — He Improved It
Liam Gallagher, front-man of the chart-topping, record-breaking Britpop band Oasis, has a genuine affinity for Clarks, to the extent that he’s fluent in the British shoemaker's obscure deep-cuts.
For example, the discontinued Clarks Rambler. Through Twitter, Gallagher publicly urged Clarks to bring the shoe back and, in 2022, they did just that by way of a debut collaboration with the singer. Now, the duo is following that shoe up with another little-known treasure from the Clarks archives.
The Clarks Desert Rain first launched in the early 2000s as a reworking of the classic Desert Boot with a casually flattened crepe sole. It was swiftly discontinued and forgotten, save for a small-scale comeback in 2011, but it is ultimately a shoe known only to true Clarks devotees. Like Mr. Gallagher, for instance.
“My favorite Clarks shoes are the ones that are on my feet: Desert Rain,” he said in a statement. That isn’t a hyperbolic sales pitch. Gallagher has been pictured wearing this niche footwear model for years.
“I know when I put on Clarks. Like when I put these [Clarks Desert Rain] on today, I feel proper,” he continued.
Gallagher’s take on the Desert Rain comes with some alterations. The crepe outsole is more chunky, departing from the model’s regular slim shape, and the upper comes in jumbo cotton corduroy with a highly textured finish.
The final beige-hued boot almost looks like a thick-ribbed sock stitched onto a huge canoe-shaped rubber sole. It sounds weird, and it frankly is, looking decisively left-field compared to a regular pair of Wallabees.
But that’s not a complaint.
The experimental nature of the shoe, informed by the classic look of a Clarks boot, is a brilliant combination. Gallagher's textural update made for the most striking, genre-bending Clarks collaboration I’ve seen in recent memory.
The shoes, available in limited numbers at Highsnobiety Shop, are launching on March 20. And if the release is anything like trying to get Oasis reunion tour tickets, you’ll have to be quick on the draw.
