Clarks, Ja’s unofficial national shoe

It was in the early 1900s that the Clarks brand officially began distribution in the Caribbean. Since then, Clarks shoes has had quite a rebranding – primarily in Jamaica. Thanks to the Desert Trek, which was inspired by footwear worn by North African soldiers in World War II, the shoes brand took off in Jamaica during the 1960s. From young black men been arrested for wearing the shoes in the 1960s to the shoes not been allowed to enter the country in the 1970s, to it being paired with mesh merinos in the ‘80s as an ode to early dancehall culture, its current popularity among Jamaicans has come a long way.

EARLY YEARS

In November 1911, Colonel Henry Emerson Smith became Clarks’ first agent in the West Indies. Upon coming to Caribbean, he arrived with 96 samples of Clarks shoes which would be sold on a commission of 5 per cent. Still, the shoes didn’t do as well as everyone expected and by 1921, the company closed their outlet in the region. In the later years of the 1920s though, there were plenty stores across Jamaica which carried English brands such as Austin Reed, Saxone, Liberty and Burberry. But one store in Jamaica was known to carry Clarks shoes and that was Nathan’s.

Nathan’s, formerly known as Nathan & Godfrey, was a Jewish Jamaican store with outlets across the island. Its main outlet was on the corner of King Street and Barry Street in Kingston and at this time, it was the largest department store in the English-speaking West Indies. Al Fingers in his book, Clarks in Jamaica, stated that the Nathan’s store was probably the first store to sell Clarks on the island. The company’s sales did well enough in the 1920s that Clarks would make them the sole Jamaican outlet by the 1930s and it would remain so right up to the 1940s. Nathan’s department store, however, would be bought by Abe Issa, making him the island’s top retailer.

Another notably seller was Sinclair Henry Taylor. In 1933, Clarks went into business with Taylor, who had a showroom on Water Lane in Kingston. In the next few years, he travelled all over the island and the wider Caribbean selling Clarks, through his company, SH Taylor Ltd.

THE RISE OF DESERT CLARKS

World War II marked a turning point for the footwear brand; and that was primarily because of Nathan Clark. As a teenager, Nathan worked at one of the Clarks’ shoe factories where he gained experiences in shoe styling and pattern cutting.

At the beginning of the war, he volunteered in the British army where he was posted first in Burma (modern-day Myanmar) and then was sent to India. While serving in the war, his brother, Bancroft, who at this time was serving as director of the company, told him to be on the lookout for inspiration for new footwear. As such, Nathan produced two sketches during his time. One was the Chupplee – a sandal inspired by Indian shoemakers. The other was a boot to which Nathan later wrote. “I got the idea from crepe-soled rough suede boots which officers in the Eighth Army were in the habit of getting made in the Bazaar at Cairo. Some of these officers came to Burma, and this is where I saw them.”

Nathan would take these shoes made in Egypt and adjust the design of the boots by reducing the number of eyelets from five to two. These boots became the iconic Desert Clarks.

Upon his return to England, Nathan, realising his sketches were not put into full production, created the samples himself. In fact, the company’s stock committee was not behind the manufacturing of the two shoes believing they would never sell. But Nathan, moving full steam ahead as head of Clarks Overseas Division, would put the Chupplee and the Desert Boots, in production. The two shoes were then put on display at the 1949 National Shoe Fair of America where they caught the attention of Oscar Schoeffler, fashion editor at Esquire. The Chupplee was featured in the 1950 issue of Appeal Arts, the sister company of Esquire and would soon come to the attention of the businessman, Bronson Davis. Davis approached Clarks to represent the company in the US and by May 1950, he was selling the Chupplee and the Desert Boot through his company, Ford-Davis Co. The Desert would become a huge success in US and riding off the shoe’s success, Bronson Davis became the president of Clarks of England Inc, in a few years.

Due to these events, Clarks began to rise in popularity on the island. As such, a man named Tony Thorner became in charge of Clarks distribution in the West Indies. According to Al Fingers, Thorner was told by his Trinidadian agent that young men in the West Indies wanted their shoes with sharp, pointer toes and as such, the company altered the Desert Shoes to what we know today.

Still, by the 1960s, the Jamaican government was strengthening restrictions on the importation of footwear into the island to boost locally made footwear. As such, Clarks broke their exclusive agreement with Nathan’s and Issa and created partnership with other stores on the island, including Hanna’s and Bardowell’s. This increased the number of Clarks available on the island. Still, given the popularity of the Clarks shoes on the island, notably the Desert Clarks, there was a moment that Clarks was looking into manufacturing Clarks on the island, when concerns arose that the Jamaican government would have a complete ban of imported footwear on the island. The Jamaican government was even looking into supporting the local manufacturing of the shoes but the company’s board eventually disapproved.

Then by the mid-decade, as reported in an article published in The Daily Gleaner on August 12, 1966 titled, “Briton Comes Sept To Teach Shoemaking”, a Clarks shoemaker named Robert Taylor was sent to the island to teach shoemaking to the Jamaica Youth Corps. In years to come, Clarks would supply equipment to local Jamaican shoemakers.

Nevertheless, due to the boost in availability of Clarks on the island, sales sky-rocketed. By the 1970s, Jamaica was one of Clarks top-ten exporter countries with sales averaging £100,000 annually. At this time, Clarks started to become very much a part of the island’s identity and one group was to be given the credit - the rude boys of Kingston.

‘RUDEBOY’ CLARKS

When Jamaica got independence in 1962, the promise of prosperity did not target the entire population. As such, disenfranchised black Jamaicans as well as Indo-Jamaicans, were regulated to urban slums. Born out of that racial and social divide, poverty and oppression, were gangs. Still, even though they engaged in criminal activities, the politics of fashion was not lost on these gangs and for these young men of Jamaica, Clarks was the shoes of choice.

From the late 1960s, the shoes became popular among the gangs of Kingston and there was even some practicality for them wearing it. As the DJ and producer Jah Thomas said in an interview with Al Fingers. “When you have on Clarks, nobody nah hear you come. They’re so silent when you walk - cheese bottom dem call it - you don’t see a man squeeze up on you, you nah hear him when him ah come.”

Reputed dons who the shoes were popular with throughout the 1960s and 1970s included: Claudie Massop (associated with the Phoenix Gang which later became the Shower Posse), Aston ‘Bucky Marshall’ Thompson (affiliated with Matthews Lane), Howard ‘Curly Locks’ Hewitt (associated with Rema 13).

The shoes were also popular among members of Rastafari who according to Al Fingers, was attracted to the shoes by its “simplicity, durability and construction from natural materials”.

The shoes became quite popular at the turn of the decade and to many young men in urban Jamaica it became a status symbol, especially when it comes to getting women’s attention. In a 2018 documentary directed by Storm Saulter titled, Clarks Original - Major Stitch & The Rudeboys, veteran DJ Major Stitch states:

“If you looking a girl in those time, di first place she look is on your foot. An if you don’t ‘av’ on a Clarks, you just don’t ‘av’ a chance.”

But it wasn’t not long before black inner-city youths were targeted by the police because of their footwear. See in their eyes, these poor boys from Jamaica should not be able to afford this British shoe, so they have to be dealing with criminal activities to afford a pair or even stole the shoes. In a 2021 documentary directed by Gabrielle Blackwood, titled Clarks and Jamaica, acclaimed musician, Protoje’s states,

“They wud lock up people for Clarks because you’re not supposed to have those things, you know wat I mean?”

DJ trinity in a interview with Al Fingers recalled his own experience with the Jamaican police. According to him, the police said,

“You must be a thief, how else could you afford such expensive shoes?”

As such, the arrest of black men wearing Clarks occurred across the Kingston and St Andrew, specifically West Kingston. There is one noticeable incident during this time of a police tactic whereby police officers, led by Superintendent Joe Williams, raided a Sir Coxsone dance. He reportedly told the DJ to turn down the music and then declared,

“All who’s wearing Clarks booty must go on that side of the dance, stand up over here suh. And who’s not wearing Clarks booty must go on this side”.

As reported, many men went shoeless that night having taken off their shoes to join the no-wearing Clarks line. Still, this continued throughout the years and by the early 1980s, the tactic was still being used. Noted criminologist and expert on Jamaican gangs, Dr Claude McKay, recalled his father, Ronald McKay, using similar tactics to raid dances and cinemas as a member of the Jamaica Constabulary Force Eradication Squad in the early 1980s.

As Major Stitch says,

“Once you have on Clarks , you’re a Rude Boy,

Dat ’s how the police a check it”

In his 2005 song, The Master Has Come Back off his widely acclaimed album, Welcome To Jamrock album, Jamaican musician Damian ‘Jr Gong’ Marley recalls this discrimination against black men in the country and Clarks when he sings,

“Long before Bogle start dance an still deh pon paper money,

Police a lock up man fi dem shoes

Dat simply mean the station full up a bare Clark boot an Bally ,

From England weh spanking new”

But whatever notoriety the shoes had, did not stop the rise of its popularity - sales continued. As stated previously, by the early 1970s, Jamaica was one of Clarks top-ten exporter countries with sales averaging £100,000 annually. Then in 1972, Michael Manley and the People’s National Party (PNP) came to power. Like all things in Jamaica history, the Manley years ushered in a new era between the relationship with Jamaicans and Clarks.

THE MANLEY YEARS

One of the policies implemented by the Manley-led PNP government in the early 1970s was one meant to drive the self-resilience of the nation’s agricultural and manufacturing sector. The highlight of this self-resilience initiative was Operation Grow - Grow What You Eat and Eat What You Grow initiative which in recent years has been brought back by the Jamaican government. Another highlight was the prohibition of certain foreign made goods into the island - on that list was foreign made shoes. For even though Clarks is synonymous with Jamaicans, it is a British-made shoe and so, under this new government policy, Clarks was impacted. Therefore, in May 1973, when the policy went into effect, it ended the official and legal importation of Clarks into Jamaica.

Still, that did not stop persons from getting the shoes into the island and they were so good at it, that many Jamaicans are still not aware that there was a point in history where the shoes were not allowed into the island.

Persons like the distributor Tony Thorner, got the shoes into the island, by creating underground routes through Puerto Rico and Miami. Former director of the Clarks UK Division, Neville Gillibrand, states that persons with coffin business in Miami would stuff the Clark shoes in coffins to get the shoes through Jamaica customs. According to him, these ‘coffin businesspersons’ became one of Thorner’s biggest customers.

Clarks was also popular among reggae musicians at this time. One can recall General Smiley and Papa Michigan’s Rub-A-Dub Style album cover where the shoes was highlighted. As such, when on tour in England, reggae musicians would purchase Clarks in bulk to bring home. Many higglers across the country would have their relatives put the shoes in barrels to be sent back home. This informal importation of Clarks became one of the very reasons, why even though not been allowed to be imported in the country, the shoes continued to be hold up as the most popular footwear among Jamaican men in the 1970s. This can be seen as any image of Jamaican black men the 1970s, they are most likely wearing some variety of Clarks.

And there were many varieties that were to choose from: the Rambler, the Dover, the Weaver, the Camaro, the Naturevelt, the Natalie, among others. But with Jamaicans, three designs were favourable: the Desert Boot, the Wallabee, launched in 1967; and the Desert Trek, launched in 1971. Though, as any Jamaican will tell you, the Desert Trek is not called that on the island. See, the Desert Trek, became the first Clarks shoes to feature the “trek man”. At the back of the shoes, there is a stitch of what looks to be a man hiking with a walking stick and a bag pack. Jamaicans though, interpret it as a man robbing a bank and the shoes is now known islandwide as the “bank robber”.

Still, the 1970s saw reggae become a national identity and as many musicians gravitate towards the shoes, Clarks too solidified its position as a part of Jamaica’s national identity. When the Jamaica Labour Party came to power in 1980, many of the import restrictions were lifted and Clarks flowed into the country without issue. But by this dancehall was on the rise and those artistes also gravitated towards the footwear. Popularly paired with a diamond socks and mesh merinos, these early dancehall artists continued to propel Clarks popularity. As musician Iba Mahr documents in his 2015 song, Diamond Sox, where the music video celebrates the early years of Jamaica’s dancehall scene,

“ Inna mi diamond sox and me Wallabee Clarks

And Arrow shirt and me mesh marina

A red green and gold me inna

Well, when me step inna the scene yah ”

IMPACT AND RESURGENCE

The popularity of the shoes would remind steady and became a cultural status symbol throughout the decade and the next. Then, when Jamaican immigrants to the US brought Clarks fashion with them, it gained the attention of Black Americans and coined a new fashion sense in that community. One of these persons who this had a major influence were Ghostface Killah, a member of the Wu-Tang Clan who was known for wearing the Wallabee, his choice of footwear. As he said in the documentary, Soles of the City,

“The first people I remember seeing wearing Wallies was the Jamaicans and old school cats from my hood,”

The album cover art for 1996 debut album, Ironman, featured him with bandmate, Raekwon and Cappadonna, posing with multiple pairs of Wallabees. Nevertheless, the early 2000s saw a somewhat decline in its popularity, primarily thanks to rap and Black American culture on the island. At this time, Nike’s, Jordans, Reeboks, become more popular.

But then came March 2010, when then upcoming dancehall artiste Popcaan asked his mentor, Vybz Kartel,

“A weh yuh get da new Clarks deh , daddy?”

That one question helped kick-start the renewed Clarks craze on the island, that rivalled those of the shoes brand’s popularity of the ‘60s and ‘70s in Jamaica. However, this time, there has been a noticeably increase in Jamaican women wearing the shoe brand.

More than a decade later, Popcaan collaborated with the shoe brand on a special ‘Unnruly’ Wallabees which were available for sale globally and at select Jamaican retailers including Signature Style, Trevor’s Clothing and Accessories, Collectibles, Fashion Express, Shoe Gallery, Royal Fashion and Cann’s Originals.

The brand has continued to forge local partnerships. In 2021, Clarks paid homage to the island with a ‘Jamaica Pack’ in 2021. It featured the Desert Boot, Desert Trek and the Wallabee in shades of black, green and gold, the colours of the Jamaican national flag. They also released a Dancehall Collection, consisting of six styles “with bold colours and intricate detailing, all inspired by Jamaica, a nation that has embraced our iconic styles,” Clarks posted to Instagram. The company also announced several community initiatives through a partnership with Clarks brand ambassador, Jamaica-born British footballer Raheem Sterling, who has his own Clarks shoe. In 2023, renowned British-Jamaican menswear designer Martine Rose was named the first guest creative director of Clarks.

Still, who would have that thought a shoe that was synonymous with alleged criminals in Jamaica 1960s; a shoe that people had to sneak into the country in the 1970s, would today become the country’s unofficial national shoe.

This article is taken from the Lest We Forget Podcast episode titled “The Clarks Phenomenon”. J.T. Davy is a member of the historical and political content collective, Tenement Yaad Media, where she co-produces their popular historical podcast, Lest We Forget. She is also a writer at the regional collective, Our Caribbean Figures. Send feedback to jordpilot @ hotmail .com and entertainment@gleanerjm.com .