Clarks Originals and sneaker and streetwear store West NYC have collaborated for the first time, presenting “A Love Letter to West 72nd Street,” featuring a reimagined Wallabee silhouette.
Clarks Originals x West NYC.
For the project’s marketing, the brands turned to the local people of West 72nd Street, whom the team at West NYC draws inspiration from in person, ranging from workers to residents. The images are meant to serve as an authentic snapshot of life on West 72nd Street, a close-knit community with long-standing local businesses.
Clarks Originals x West NYC.
Adir Landes, brand director at West NYC and sister store Tip Top Shoes, told FN, “Working with Clarks is an extension of everything we’ve done up until now. The goal has always been to merge sneaker culture with traditional shoemaking, a dialectic that Lester and I live out every day splitting our time between West NYC and Tip Top Shoes. That’s what makes the Wallabee so personal to us, it is one of few shoes that are truly emblematic of who we are and our everyday tasks. It’s a shoe, not a sneaker, that has been accepted in the sneaker world, the same way that Lester [Wasserman] and I are accepted in the sneaker world through West NYC.”
Clarks Originals x West NYC.
The collaboration marks a significant milestone in the relationship between the Clark and Wasserman families, which dates back more than 50 years. The Wassermans are the family behind Tip Top Shoes, which celebrated its 85th anniversary this year with the help of Adidas and West NYC. Meanwhile, Clarks marks its 200th anniversary in 2025.
Landes said, “Our hearts live on the sales floor of Tip Top Shoes, but we have fun through the flashy products that come in at West NYC. This shoe is also the real-world actualization of our relationship with Clarks, with people like Vini Puentes and Jeff Herrick, that we consider friends, not colleagues — who fought tooth and nail to make sure this project saw the light of day, knowing how much this means to us.”
Clarks Originals x West NYC.
The West NYC Clarks Wallabee showcases a distinctive marled yarn upper with bold yellow, blue, and gray hues in addition to the signature Wallabee crepe sole. The sockliner of the right shoe features a special note, which Landes explained the significance of, bringing up Danny Wasserman, the late owner of Tip Top Shoes, who died at the age of 80 in October 2024.
“This was the first project we worked on after the passing of Danny,” Landes said. “We were all extremely shaken up and wanted to tie him into the shoe somehow without making it too heartwrenching. We chose to write ‘Honoring those who served to make 72nd st. an iconic block for footwear retail on the inner sole. This verbiage didn’t just make the shoe about Danny, but it also made it about us, commemorating our relationship through product, which is fitting because much of our bonding was over product that we all went crazy for.”
Landes continued, “The loss gave us perspective, for me it was about realizing what we see online is not that important (unless it was an IG reel Danny sent me), but what’s really important are our relationships and the people that impact us on a daily basis. That’s why we partnered with our friends on the block for this marketing; they don’t have IG clout, they are simply the people that matter the most to us.”
Clarks Originals x West NYC.
Priced at $159.95, the West NYC Clarks Wallabee will have 300 pairs released and will be available to shop beginning Nov. 22 in-store at 10 a.m. and at westnyc.com at noon EST.
