I stopped in to the local Bostonian retail outlet tonight to buy a pair of shoes. I am sure that the shoe salesman knew more about shoes than anyone I’ve ever met… Anyway, we struck up a conversation about the Clark Wallabees they were selling. I mean, who can forget the polyurethane soles, these shoes are classics.
I asked when the Wallabees became popular again. He told me that 5 years ago, members of a band (maybe Oasis?) started to wear the shoes during shows, the shoes then caught on with fans. Word-of-mouth marketing, influencers… you just can’t seem to get away from it all. Guess I’ll have to go back now and reread the beginning of Malcolm Gladwell’s the Tipping Point .