Sneaker herald.
The birth of Clue sneakers is a multifaceted story. Let's go one by one. 3 simple interesting stories and you'll pretty much be up to date.
Story no. 1
As a designer myself, I was introduced and was interested in the shoemaking process early on. Doing internships in multiple places ensured me that one, I am what they call 'jack of all and master of none' and two, I am not made for the corporate ladder. With this epiphany I decided to make something combining what I know and what I love. Eventually I realised that the idiom is incomplete. It's actually, "jack of all trades and master of none, is always better than master of one."
Story no. 2
A good story is always appreciated. However, it has largely been missing in Indian shoemaking process. Sneakers especially was considered a cheap trick to earn more and the desgins were largely copied from western countries. (Sad it still is for the majority) Being influenced from hip-hop it saddens us that sneakers have indeed arrived in India but originality like DHH is still a Missing quotient. Why is there no story? Why is there no good heart and 'sole' in the Indian sneaker scene? This motivated us at clue more than anything else. To make sure everything we make has a story but we also know it's not going to be an easygoing story which makes it an even more interesting path to take afterall, a good story needs a lil 'masala' too!
Story no. 3
Even in in 2023 when we started with the simple idea to make a shoe that's premium in quality but also customisable, as a 20 year old, it was always a challenge. People. Just. Won't. Take. Us. Seriously. The only thing that helped us was to take it as an interesting obstacle. We just ensured that at the end of the day, we said to ourselves, "fun toh hai yeh" and laughed it off.
Bonus story
India has a history of making shoes. The art has been used to only sell the good quality shoes outside India and sub-par quality pan India. The companies then put their brand name and sell it back in India in ₹1947/- Sounds familiar much?
We're not a flag bearer of making sneakers in India however, we surely are the herald to say, we've arrived and we strive to be nothing short of a phenomenon.
