Crocs have become fashionable, but why do they still give us 'the ick'?

With style mavens like Vogue Williams and Kendall Jenner rocking the rubber, why is it that Crocs still give us 'the ick?'

Crocs shoes in all sizes and colors are displayed in a shoe store in 2006. (Photo by David Silverman/Getty Images)

“CONTRACEPTIVE EFFICACY,” a recent Instagram meme, bearing bold black lettering and stand-to-attention white background parlances at me. “CONDOMS 95%, THE PILL 99%, CROCS 100%”. It made me laugh, not so much because I loathe Crocs, or wondered why my algorithm was suddenly so intent on my sex life, but because its cheap humour and quick punchline deemed it the perfect message to send to a Croc-wearing friend — which all of a sudden, I realised, I have many.

Born in 2002, by three innovators studying at the University of Colorado with a penchant for sailing, the humble foam clog came about when Scott Seamans, Lyndon Hanson and George Boedbecker Jr. discovered something known as Croslite, the material out of which Crocs are made today. They tinkered, tightened and tweaked until they acquired the exclusive rights to Croslite technology and thus, the Croc we know today was born.