'Beautifully chosen': David Hockney's yellow Crocs impress King Charles
It was a question that must have plagued those attending King Charles' first Order of Merit luncheon on Thursday: what to wear while eating partridge pie with the new monarch.< /p>
For 85-year-old artist David Hockney, it was simple: his signature plaid Savile Row suit, a plaid knit tie…and a pair of yellow garden Crocs . A fan of wide open spaces, the king was delighted. "Your yellow galoshes!" he pointed out. "Beautifully chosen."
Crocs might be closer in hoof shape, but it wasn't far off. Durable, tough, and slip-resistant, crocs started life as outdoor footwear but were quickly adopted by blue-collar industries, including kitchen staff and nurses. Made from a proprietary cellular resin material called Croslite, which falls somewhere between rubber and plastic, they're comfortable for workers for long hours and thick enough to protect feet from a stray cleaver. /p>
We love to hate Crocs - but that doesn't stop us from buying them. Pushed for comfort apparel during the pandemic, sales have skyrocketed over the past five years. In the quarter ending September 30, they reached nearly $1bn (£827m). According to a spokesperson, more than 100 million pairs are sold each year. It's less about who wears them than who doesn't.
Influence tends to accumulate, so this was just one It was only a matter of time before Hockney joined the Crocerati, a large but notorious porter group that includes pop star Justin Bieber, rapper Post Malone and actor Adam Sandler. Also blame Christopher Kane and Balenciaga, who remodeled Crocs, jacked up the price and sold them.
Hockney, of course, has always been a style icon. Over the past two decades, Paul Smith and Christopher Bailey have designed collections around the artist's wardrobe, which included (but were not limited to) Coney Island logo sweatshirts, rugby shirts striped, pants and glasses. Historically, however, the artist preferred a pair of white, worn-out, laceless sneakers.
The lunch dress code is far removed from that of the mainstream culture. Most participants wore black. TV presenter Floella Benjamin was among the few guests to introduce a welcome splash of magenta to her headphones. These days, Hockney is mostly in a wheelchair, so he's presumably been given free rein. Really and spiritually comfortable, he definitely chose Crocs because they have a deep insole, so one can put their orthotics inside.
But he may have been attracted by the color. Guests will have noticed that he wore them with a pair of blue socks. From a distance, it was as if his 1967 masterpiece, A Bigger Splash, had come to life.
It was a question that must have plagued those attending King Charles' first Order of Merit luncheon on Thursday: what to wear while eating partridge pie with the new monarch.< /p>
For 85-year-old artist David Hockney, it was simple: his signature plaid Savile Row suit, a plaid knit tie…and a pair of yellow garden Crocs . A fan of wide open spaces, the king was delighted. "Your yellow galoshes!" he pointed out. "Beautifully chosen."
Crocs might be closer in hoof shape, but it wasn't far off. Durable, tough, and slip-resistant, crocs started life as outdoor footwear but were quickly adopted by blue-collar industries, including kitchen staff and nurses. Made from a proprietary cellular resin material called Croslite, which falls somewhere between rubber and plastic, they're comfortable for workers for long hours and thick enough to protect feet from a stray cleaver. /p>
We love to hate Crocs - but that doesn't stop us from buying them. Pushed for comfort apparel during the pandemic, sales have skyrocketed over the past five years. In the quarter ending September 30, they reached nearly $1bn (£827m). According to a spokesperson, more than 100 million pairs are sold each year. It's less about who wears them than who doesn't.
Influence tends to accumulate, so this was just one It was only a matter of time before Hockney joined the Crocerati, a large but notorious porter group that includes pop star Justin Bieber, rapper Post Malone and actor Adam Sandler. Also blame Christopher Kane and Balenciaga, who remodeled Crocs, jacked up the price and sold them.
Hockney, of course, has always been a style icon. Over the past two decades, Paul Smith and Christopher Bailey have designed collections around the artist's wardrobe, which included (but were not limited to) Coney Island logo sweatshirts, rugby shirts striped, pants and glasses. Historically, however, the artist preferred a pair of white, worn-out, laceless sneakers.
The lunch dress code is far removed from that of the mainstream culture. Most participants wore black. TV presenter Floella Benjamin was among the few guests to introduce a welcome splash of magenta to her headphones. These days, Hockney is mostly in a wheelchair, so he's presumably been given free rein. Really and spiritually comfortable, he definitely chose Crocs because they have a deep insole, so one can put their orthotics inside.
But he may have been attracted by the color. Guests will have noticed that he wore them with a pair of blue socks. From a distance, it was as if his 1967 masterpiece, A Bigger Splash, had come to life.
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