Perhaps one of the most merchandised franchises in the world, Sanrio, has marketed virtually every item imaginable. Their popular characters—including Hello Kitty, My Melody, and Kuromi—have found their way onto nearly every store item.
To celebrate Hello Kitty’s 50th anniversary, the company recently released a collaboration with the controversially viewed sandal company Crocs. Although the Japanese entertainment brand has collaborated with Nike, Converse, and Dr. Martens to create shoes in the past, excluding a single pair released in 2023, they have not before released a collection with Crocs.
The most quintessentially Hello Kitty item in the 2024 collection is the “Hello Kitty Classic Clogs.” The plain white clogs with blue midsoles, a red strap, a 3D red bow, and a small black whisker design fashion the shoes as mini-Hello Kitties lacking faces.
As an anti-Croc proponent, I cannot say that I enjoy these shoes, but I can somewhat appreciate the concept. As the anniversary collection aims to celebrate the company and stays within Hello Kitty’s traditional color scheme, it makes sense that it includes a basic shoe representing Sanrio’s most beloved character. However, even though a cute concept, the shoes are overall unattractive and appear like they would be difficult to style.
Reminiscent of the classic Hello Kitty clog, second in the collection is a pair of extravagant blue and white heels. Though they would be bizarre at any height, the shoes’ sparkly blue midsoles and platforms add to the overall awkwardness of the sandals.
The upper half of the shoe, patterned with blue Hello Kitties printed onto white, in typical Croc fashion, comes with charms—what the brand refers to as Jibbitz. The two bright red, oversized bow charms are, in my opinion, passably attractive. If viewed from a distance, I’m not sure they would be distinguishable as more than vibrant blobs, but up close, they are fun, retro sandal accessories.
The 3D Hello Kitty figure and slightly smaller face Jibbitz, however, seem more fitted to be toys than shoe decorations and look like they could be easily knocked off and broken (particularly the standing, full-body Hello Kitty).
Though I can understand the basic Hello Kitty Croc style, the high-heeled design is too ridiculous to win my appreciation. Upon looking at the blocky red and blue pumps, I cannot help but be reminded of unwieldy and awkward clown shoes unfit for practical use.
As for the third pair of clogs in the Sanrio collection, the “Stomp Slides,” I’m surprised to say that I am increasingly wanting to buy a pair of my own. The red and white platforms’ height is similar to the previously mentioned heels, but instead, the overall platform makes the sandals look aesthetically pleasing. I enjoy that the shoes stick to a color scheme of only white and sparkly, Wizard of Oz-esque red and don’t try to incorporate blue as a third color.
Compared to the heels, I think that the included red bow charms are more fitting because of their color cohesiveness and that, in the marketed image, they are not accompanied by additional Jibbitz. Although the shoes’ top part has printings of Hello Kitty—which I don’t necessarily love in general—the pattern further ties the red detailing into the shoes.
The final Sanrio x Crocs pair, the 2023 non-anniversary release, has a base color of pink with Sanrio characters’ pictures printed onto the shoes. I enjoy the pink concept, but the subpar design ruins the pair’s potential. Even in the official images, the characters’ images are awkwardly stretched across the clogs, making the shoes look cheaply produced.
On the back of the strap, there is a decal labeled “Hello Kitty and Friends,” which further ruins the sandals. The yellow branding tag, though obviously placed for advertisement, makes the clogs look like a brand promotion rather than a fashion statement.
The pair comes with simplistic-looking charms of Hello Kitty, My Melody, Badtz-Maru, Kuromi, Chococat, Keroppi, and Pompompurin. The character Jibbitz (which are more 2D than the heels’ Hello Kitty charm) are a fun, classic addition to the otherwise lousy shoes.
Individually, there are three sets of Sanrio Jibbitz available for purchase: a red-themed Hello Kitty pack (from the anniversary collection), a light pink and white-centric set, and a pastel assortment with various characters (both from the 2023 release).
Generally, all three packs are adequately special accessories to help achieve Croc personalization. My personal favorite, the pink “Elevated Jibbitz” pack, has pretty, sparkly pink detailing included and should have had a Croc shoe pair designed to go with it.
In its entirety, however, I would rank the entire Sanrio x Croc collaboration catalog to be slightly subpar—numerically ranked, 2/5.
The designers should have incorporated more platform designs with sparkly, simplistic color schemes, like the red “Stomp Slides,” instead of the idiosyncratic and cheugy pairs that account for the majority of the options available.
With all of the potential that Sanrio’s adorable cast of characters brings with them, the Sanrio x Crocs products are, unfortunately, largely disenchanting.
