Former YEEZY designer Steven Smith hired as Head of Creative Innovation at Crocs

Steven Smith has had quite a career in innovation of styles in footwear and fashion. Spanning 38 years, Smith has been able to create and collaborate on loved models from different brands all over, most notably the Yeezy Foam Runner and Yeezy Boost 700 models from adidas. Starting on a fresh slate with Crocs looks to be the next step for Smith as his departure from Yeezy earlier this year made headlines and had some wondering what might be next for the creative.

With Smith's new position, he will look to implement designs both for Crocs and for HEYDUDE, a footwear brand also owned by the company. Smith's creative outlook will aim to create new looks for the brands as well as evolving their known style to the next level and get a new audiance to take notice of the clog like footwear.

“I have a penchant for taking design to new places and I’m grateful for the opportunity to bring my knowledge and expertise to these storied brands...There is incredible potential to explore new forms and functionalities across the company’s iconic product portfolio and continue pushing boundaries through innovation.” - Steven Smith

Smith joining the team over at Crocs simply makes sense for his next move. Some of Crocs recent models have taken direct inspiration from YEEZY branded sillouhettes from when Smith was working with Ye and even could be confused for a YEEZY sneaker such as the known Foam Runner. Designs and collabs like the "Echo Clog" or the Salehe Bembury X Crocs collaboration are both futuristic looks that take the trademark Crocs style and evolved it to a more YEEZY looking shoe that made it more attractive to a younger audiance or a crowd that likes the style that Ye and his team had been creating over recent years and drops.

With Ye seemingly putting footwear to the side for now and focusing on music and crafting his next album, only releasing the YZY Pods recently, it makes sense for Smith to take the opportunity to work with Crocs and help create more of a futuristic style of comfort that had gained traction and became a fan favorite. If Smith is able to help Crocs gain enough traction without the Ye name attatched the sneaker, this could be a step forward for sneaker culture, elevating the game and getting new ideas for footwear out to the world.