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Running with ideas and sailing from strength to strength

posted by Clarks Jobs
24 June 2013

Clarks and sports are two words that people don’t tend to associate with each other. Clarks Sport started back in 2008 so it’s pretty new but it has just completely exploded, in a good way, in the last 19 months. In Sports, we have sportswear, sailing, outdoor and women’s fitness. And there’s a lot going on right now. We’re working closely with Originals, making sports interpretations of desert boots, boat shoes and other key styles. Iconic shoes with a high-performance sports twist.

I was at Nike in Boston for five years before coming here. I was planning on moving back to Europe and I was going to go and work for Nike in Amsterdam, when my friend mentioned Clarks. The combination of new and heritage really excited me. Clarks had this big five year plan of how they wanted to use all their incredible craftsmanship knowledge and technology to make these great sports performance shoes. I knew that it’d be something very unique. I guess I was taking a long shot on such a new category but opportunities like that don’t come around very often.

When I told the guys at Nike I was off to Clarks, they were like ‘wow, that’s amazing!’ as everyone knows about their great heritage. And outside of the UK, people are tripping other themselves to get hold of Clarks’ products – believe me. We have a massive global following. But it was the design capabilities here that really stunned me. There’s a whole new level of 3D modelling, there are expert last makers who’ve been working here for 20/25 years that you can just pop down and talk to, pattern cutters and so much more, it’s just incredible. And there’s no sending off for it all and waiting – it’s all here, under one roof.

Having the opportunity to run with your ideas and explore all that’s possible and the myriad of products and opportunities keep me excited every day. There’s just so much potential. And with some amazing collaborations in the pipeline, I couldn’t be happier that I made the move. We’ve collaborated with Olympic gold athletes to design market-leading shoes that outperform our competitors. We’ve had some incredible best sellers and sprinted from success to success. And this is just the beginning.

Chris McGrath, Group Head of Sports