Clarks’ Wallabee, the British shoemaker’s moccasin-cum-desert boot first released in the 1960s, has for over six decades been embraced by an eclectic cross-section of society: rappers to ravers, skaters to Britpoppers, as well as those simply desiring the comfortable, ergonomic footwear for which Clarks has long been known.
It makes it the kind of intellectual property that is ripe for collaboration; as part of the Clarks Originals line it has been reimagined by the likes of Supreme, Stussy, Carhartt, Bape and Aimé Leon Dore, as well as Wu Wear, the clothing line of the Wu Tang Clan, which saw the Wallabee adorned with psychedelic swirls in colourways inspired by the lyrics to ‘Ice Cream’ and ‘Glaciers of Ice’ (hues spanned maple, navy and honey brown).
The Moncler Trailgrip Wallabee features a sole designed for traversing rugged terrain
A new collaboration, though, between Moncler and Clarks Originals is perhaps one of the most intriguing yet. Titled the Trailgrip Wallabee GTX, it sees the classic Wallabee reworked with an amped-up sole using Moncler’s Trailgrip Vibram technology, allowing its wearer to better traverse the sort of terrain with which the brand is most associated (Moncler was originally founded in 1953 to outfit climbers traversing the peaks of Monestier-de-Clermont in the French Alps). The brand says the idea is to reimagine the Wallabee ‘as a performance silhouette’ (crafted from classic Wallabee suede, it also features a waterproof Gore-Tex lining).
Its release coincides with that of the latest Moncler x Fragment collection, part of an ongoing partnership between the Hiroshi Fujiwara-led, Tokyo-based label and Moncler that has been running since 2018 in various iterations. The Trailgrip Wallabee GTX features in the collection in an alternative all-black version, finished with Fragment branding along its side.
Hiroshi Fujiwara in the latest Moncler x Fragment campaign. The designer wears an all-black version of the Trailgrip Wallabee GTX, £630, available 29 August
The collection itself, which features Fujiwara himself in the campaign, wearing a reversible varsity jacket of his own design, looks towards Japan and the mountains for inspiration, ‘stripping away the noise of the city, distilling it to its most essential elements before embarking on an aesthetic journey into the serene majesty of the summits’, as he says via the collection notes. And, for the first time, it includes a ‘FRGMTmini’ collection, comprising sized-down versions of the garments for children – the ultimate in ‘mini me’.
The Trailgrip Wallabee GTX is available from Moncler stores worldwide and moncler.com, while the Fragment Trailgrip Wallabee GTX, £630, is available from Moncler Ginza and moncler.com.