Nostalgia is a powerful selling tool. I popped into the Clarks pop up store in Regent Street this week and came face-to-face with my teenage years again. Sat proudly on the shelf was the Clarks Originals Desert Boot in Laura Ashley's Sweet Alyssum print. This was the print I had in my bedroom as wallpaper AND curtains in chocolate brown (do people still do this?) when I was 17. I was a hard core Laura Ashley fan in my teens, then after college I went and worked for them. So Laura Ashley is sort of in my fashion DNA.
The Clarks Desert Boot was worn by a boy I had a mad, unrequited crush on (in manly beige rather than floral pastel I might add) when I was doing my A levels. I can still remember the first time he ever smiled at me, I thought I was going to melt into the college canteen floor. I used to practise doodling the flower shapes from the Sweet Alyssum print on the edges of my Boots Scribbling Diary, decorating it while staring at the wallpaper and dreaming of said boy.
So you can see that in the coming together of the Laura Ashley print and the Clarks desert boot there's a hormonal car crash waiting to happen for me. I also reckon I can't be a good judge of whether they are a good product because my emotions are so stirred up, but I'll be buying them anyway. It's nostalgia. Think how well they will go with that Laura Ashley Skirt that lives in a cardboard box in the shed.
The Clarks desert boots have been coming out in seasonal prints for a while, and they are very appealing in the sweet pastels as well as the Laura Ashley print this spring. And the black ones are total classics. The print version is £85 and is available on line, and the plain pastel versions and more printed shoe styles will also be appearing shortly.
But you may prefer them in animal print at just £39 in the sale, which is a bargain and might not stir up so many memories.
BTW Clarks, we loved the pop up store with its interesting shelving, blackboard wall and nice staff, now could you look at doing something with the website? It's a touch dull and why such tiny pictures of shoes? Much appreciated!
Clarks pop up store in Regent Street (Piccadilly end) is open until Feb 20th.