A Classic Reborn Through a New Generation’s Lens

Since its founding in 2016, the Italian label Magliano has rapidly ascended from cult status to one of the most anticipated names in avant-garde menswear. Known for its twisted tailoring, dark romanticism, and unorthodox approach to everyday silhouettes, the brand now turns its eye to one of the most iconic footwear staples of all time: the Clarks Originals Desert Boot.

This isn’t just a remix—it’s a transformation born of eerie elegance and imaginative subversion. Magliano has imbued the normally pragmatic Desert Boot with otherworldly detail, allowing the design to resonate with the label’s seasonal motif: Ancient Greece. This seemingly unexpected pairing—British utilitarianism meets Mediterranean antiquity—finds balance through contradiction, producing a boot that is both deeply referential and defiantly original.

Tradition Meets Ritual

At first glance, the silhouette may appear familiar. After all, the Clarks Desert Boot has remained largely unchanged since its debut in the 1950s, designed by Nathan Clark after spotting similar suede boots on British officers stationed in Egypt. What Magliano has done, however, is subtly warp the frame—preserving its DNA while introducing elements that feel like relics or amulets.

Perhaps the most striking addition is the presence of black spherical “pom-poms”, affixed not as decorative flairs but as symbols—odd, totemic orbs that hint at mysticism. They may recall the tsarouchia shoes worn by Greek ceremonial guards or ancient mourning ornaments, depending on your angle. These orbs were manually attached by Magliano himself, heightening their ritualistic significance and making each pair slightly unique in its imperfections. In this way, the boots are not just wearable—they are narrative vessels.

Adding to this sacred-meets-sinister impression is the metal screw detailing at the heel, where a Clarks logo has been bolted in. Instead of embossing or printing, the designer opted to treat branding as a mechanical intervention. It’s a touch of industrial aggression amidst the otherwise organic suede construction—again reflecting Magliano’s penchant for merging softness with grit, sensuality with decay.

Ancient Greece as Allegory

For this Spring/Summer season, Magliano’s collections have turned toward Ancient Greece as both visual inspiration and philosophical provocation. In a post-pandemic world marked by cycles of collapse and rebirth, the reference to ruins, mythology, and foundational systems of beauty and ethics carries potent metaphorical weight. The designer doesn’t merely mimic Grecian aesthetics—he abstracts them. The shapes, textures, and methods of storytelling are filtered through a 21st-century queer Italian lens.

In this context, the Clarks Desert Boot becomes a symbol of modern myth-making. Where once it stood for colonial nostalgia and global utility, it now morphs into a wandering object, halfway between sandal and sculpture. Think of it as a footnote from some forgotten epic—a sandal left behind in a dream of Athens, only to reappear in the smoky alleyways of Bologna or Tokyo.

A Connect of Unequal Equals

What makes this release particularly rare is the collision of Magliano’s emerging energy with Clarks’ deep-rooted legacy. Clarks, established in 1825, is no stranger to reinvention, having collaborated with streetwear giants and high fashion elites alike. Yet, this release feels more like a ritual collaboration than a commercial one. There’s intimacy in the process, a sense of restraint and reverence. No loud logos. No excessive marketing. Just an invitation to look closely—and feel.

That’s perhaps what sets Magliano apart in today’s fashion ecosystem: the ability to imbue simplicity with sentiment, and make the ordinary feel faintly haunted. The Desert Boot’s status as a utilitarian artifact becomes blurred. It is now at once a shoe, a relic, a memory, a statement.

The Limited Access Point

This version of the Desert Boot will not be widely available. Its release is limited to the online shop of Cannabis, a Tokyo-based boutique that has long championed subcultural and artisanal fashion from around the world. The store itself has become a kind of pilgrimage site for those who seek garments with narrative depth—a fitting launchpad for such a poetic piece.

The limited nature of the release, paired with Magliano’s direct involvement in the customization, ensures that each pair becomes a collector’s item. These are not boots for every day, nor are they intended to be. They are for the wearer who desires to inhabit a story—to feel as though they are stepping into a myth reimagined, one cobbled together from leather, thread, screws, and dreams.

Looking Ahead

This collaboration is not just a blip in Clarks’ long history nor merely another notch on Magliano’s growing belt. It marks a conversation across time, where craftsmanship and concept intersect. As Magliano continues to ascend—nurturing a following across both Europe and Asia—it is connections like these that solidify his place in the new vanguard of emotionally resonant menswear.

And for Clarks, this is a reminder of their unique position in the fashion continuum: a heritage brand capable of becoming a canvas for the avant-garde. Whether reimagined by Wallabees on New York rappers, crepe-soled derbies in Parisian runways, or now mythicized in Italian ritualism, Clarks remains relevant not because it reinvents itself—but because it allows itself to be reinterpreted.

A Final Thought

So, what does it mean to wear these boots?

It means embracing a contradiction: wearing something ancient yet contemporary, pragmatic yet poetic, mass-produced yet personal. It means understanding that fashion, at its best, is not just about aesthetics but about anchoring oneself in time—or, in this case, floating between them.

So when the world reopens—when the “day after the pause” arrives—consider making your first step a deliberate one. Step into a pair that was touched by human hands, imagined through myth, and constructed with care. The Magliano × Clarks Desert Boot isn’t just a piece of footwear. It’s a step into another way of seeing.

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