British footwear mainstay Clarks has at the moment launched its extremely anticipated 200th anniversary documentary movie referred to as ‘From Somerset to the World’.
Marking 200 years of shoemaking heritage, the documentary celebrates the model’s journey from humble beginnings in 1825 in Somerset to turning into one of the recognised and liked footwear manufacturers on this planet.
Narrated by American rapper and actor Yasiin Bey, previously often known as Mos Def, and directed by Set Free Richardson, the movie “highlights Clarks’ evolution, cultural relevance, and world impression”.
It options interviews with a complete host of movie star followers of Clarks, together with Liam Gallagher, Large Youth, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, singer Lila Ike, DJ and presenter Becca Dudley, British/Jamaican designer Martine Rose and Jamaican former footballer Allan ‘Talent’ Cole, in addition to Shoemakers Museum archivist Tim Crumplin and Clarks members of the family Ben Lovell and Irene Pedder.
Within the movie, Liam Gallagher, who is because of launch his second collaboration with Clarks this yr, says: “My earliest reminiscence of Clarks might be once I’ve gone to highschool, as a result of everybody was carrying them – they had been the all the craze again then.
“I wore Clarks all through the ‘90s, obtained plenty of recollections. I don’t suppose there’s some other model for me, actually, I discover it arduous to even take a look at different manufacturers. Clarks have by no means let me down.”
Martine Rose feedback: “Every time your youngster will get their first pair of sneakers, Clarks is the primary place that you just go, in order that their width, in order that their depth, in order that the scale of their little ft.”
Tim Crumplin provides: “200 years in the past, the world wouldn’t have contained the telegraph, phone, motor autos and aeroplanes. The primary-ever public steam railway had solely simply been invented.
“Somerset in 1825 was comparatively minimize off from the remainder of the nation, which required self sufficiency and inspired the Clark household to do issues otherwise.”
Clarks most well-known sneakers are its desert boots, first developed in 1949. Nathan Clark, who was the great-grandson of one of many founders of the corporate, found such crepe-soled boots whereas away on army service in Burma – as worn by off-duty officers.
Designed for desert use, therefore the title, the boot was very snug comfortable however robust sufficient to cope with desert circumstances. Clark discovered a provider of the shoe in Cairo and determined to purchase some inventory to trial within the UK. The remaining, as they are saying, is historical past as Clarks began to fabricate its personal out of its Somerset manufacturing unit.
The boots had been additionally adopted by 60s Mods as a key a part of their signature look and loved one other comeback with the Mods revival within the late 70s and early 80s. They had been even adopted by soccer casuals for a brief interval.
In America, Clarks gained prominence on the late 80s hip-hop scene. Ghostface Killah recollects: “Within the golden period, like 1988-89, when it was a number of pairs of sneakers that had been popping, Clarks was proper there with them.”
