Rappers and hip-hop kids alike began buying clothes in bigger sizes to eschew the prevailing mainstream trend. Prevailing mainstream style in the ‘90s tended towards wearing fitted attire but hip-hop, being much more part of the underground and wanting to maintain its own identity, opted for the opposite.
The notion of East Coast rappers wearing massively oversized clothing was distinctly anti-fashion, and this sense of rebellion underpinned the trend we readily associate with the genre. To celebrate 25 years of the group’s debut, Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), Clarks Originals have teamed up with Wu Wear on a capsule collection of Wallabees in three exclusive colourways, with custom Wu Wear detailing.
With such popularity, the shoe inevitably leaked into the style book of East Coast hip-hop’s growing stars, but nowhere was this championed more than by the Wu-Tang Clan. But the shoe found unlikely fame in a handful of circles the world over, Jamaica’s roots reggae Rockers being one. “…The combination of moccasin construction and thick crepe soles make WALLABEES one of the most comfortable shoes in the world.” Clark’s signature crepe-soled moccasin had a history stretching back to the late ‘60s, originally being named The Grasshopper, and had grown in popularity in both Europe and America over the years to form a solid part of the Clarks Originals line.
#Wu tang clan forever album free#
But it wasn't just Ghostface, the shoe appears again on Raekwon's 1995 solo album Only Built 4 Cuban Linx., rapped about on the track Incarcerated Scarfaces.“You’ll feel the free spirit of the gull in every step you take in WALLABEES…” ran early American print adverts for the iconic silhouette. Such was Ghostface’s love for the shoe that he went on to release a compilation of b-sides and remixes titled The Wallabee Champ, as well as appearing on the cover of his 1996 album Ironman, alongside Raekwon and Cappadonna holding a selection of two-tone custom Wu-Wear collab Wallabees. Wu-Tang held the Wallabee in high esteem but from the outset, it was always Ghostface Killah that was a figurehead for the silhouette.