Birkenstock.
Passing through mid-August means summer footwear choices are facing autumn transitions, making the half-century milestone of a legendary slip-on highly relevant. Fifty years after Karl Birkenstock introduced the clog, the silhouette is spending 2026 being celebrated, reinterpreted and worn through yet another summer of fashion chaos.
First launched in 1976, the Boston was a fairly radical proposition for its time. Instead of the heavy wooden platforms common to clogs, it used Birkenstock’s cork-latex footbed and a semi-closed shape designed around what the brand calls “natural walking.” Medical professionals were among its early adopters, affectionately naming it the ‘Kork-Clog’ because it protected their toes through demanding working hours.
The fashion crowd took a little longer to catch up, but its cultural takeover arrived gradually everywhere. A 1985 British Elle editorial marked an early appearance in fashion, followed by Narciso Rodriguez sending models down his Autumn/Winter 1998 runway in Boston clogs covered in cashmere flannel. By the end of the decade, the shoe had crossed properly into pop culture, with Julia Roberts wearing the Boston in ‘Notting Hill’ in 1999. What began as anatomically minded footwear had somehow become a fixture in the wardrobes of actors, designers and people who could not be bothered with laces.
Werner Bartsch.
Henry Leutwyler.
The 50th anniversary has given Birkenstock an excuse to rummage through that history while showing just how much room the Boston still leaves for reinterpretation. The anniversary programme revisits archive colours including archive yellow, archive denim blue and archive mid green, originally introduced briefly in 1977, while the wider 2026 line-up includes new materials, finishes and constructions across the clog category.
Fashion collaborations have naturally become part of the birthday festivities, through various designer pieces launched on Birkenstock 1774. Etro brought its paisley language to the Boston for its Autumn/Winter 2026 runway, pairing the clog with premium leather finishes, while Sacai took a more architectural route by combining the Boston with the Arizona sandal to create the new Cassette 75. The same collaboration also produced Aoyama 107, merging elements from the Madrid and Arizona. Beams has taken an equally recognisable route, returning to its Bone Pattern series with a black leather Boston embossed with the brand’s signature pattern. The upper treatment borrows a motif originally found on Birkenstock’s outsole, turning a functional detail into the main event.
Birkenstock.
Birkenstock.
The anniversary has also highlighted just how broad the Boston’s influence has become within Birkenstock itself. The silhouette now exists across versions including the work-focused Boston Pro, the outdoor-ready Boston Crosstown and the platform-soled Boston Chunky, as well as premium interpretations under Birkenstock 1774. More than 700 models now sit across the wider Birkenstock portfolio, but the Boston remains one of its central reference points.
There is a reason the shoe has survived so many changes in taste: its proportions are easy to recognise, the cork-latex footbed has remained central from day one and the upper gives designers plenty of room to experiment without losing the outline that made the Boston identifiable in the first place. Birkenstock itself describes the silhouette as a canvas for everything from material experimentation to embellishment and traditional craft techniques.
And now, in the middle of summer, the Boston is doing what it has always done best: refusing to belong to one particular tribe. Pair it with denim, linen, tailoring, a dress or the outfit you assembled five minutes before leaving the house, and it will look as perfectly matched as ever.
Discover the latest additions to the Boston range here.
photography. courtesy of Henry Leutwyler, Werner Bartsch, Birkenstock
words. Gennaro Costanzo
