The ugly truth: have Trump’s tariffs finally put an end to Crocs’ 19-year reign?

The Guardian’s Crocs correspondent traces the highs and lows of the rubbery perforated clogs that divide opinion

I

’ve been the Guardian’s Crocs correspondent for 19 years now, and get wheeled out for highs and lows. This is a definite low for the rubbery perforated clogs: the share price is down nearly 30% – its lowest level for three years – and revenues are expected to drop by between 9% and 11% in the current quarter.

To blame? Donald Trump mostly, and his tariffs. It’s not the first time Crocs have suffered at the hands – or feet – of a Republican US president, as it happens.

I remember the beginning. They’d actually been around since 2002, but it was 2006 when the revolution properly got going. A bunch of cool people – Nicole Kidman, Matt Damon, Al Pacino – began to be seen out and about in them. George W Bush too, over presidential seal-emblazoned golf socks (the crocs’n’socks debate is an issue in itself), but even that didn’t stop Crocs’ inexorable rise.