[6] In November 2020, it was announced that Clarks would be rescued by the Hong Kong-based private equity firm LionRock Capital, and would enter a company voluntary arrangement.

[13] In 1828 to 1829, whilst serving this apprenticeship, James began utilising the offcuts that were too short for making rugs to produce slippers (known as Brown Petersburgs).

[14] The slippers were made using outworkers who collected materials from the factory, assembled footwear in workshops at home and returned the finished product for payment.

The brothers developed national and international trade (Ireland in the 1820s, Canada by the 1830s, Australia in the 1850s) and were notably innovative, winning the gold medal at the Great Exhibition in 1851 for their gutta percha elongated galosh.

[16][17] A couple of bad years that combined volatile market conditions, a certain lack of financial rigour and questionable planning brought the business to the brink of bankruptcy in 1863.

[18] The local Quaker community stepped in and part of the bailout deal was the nomination of James' eldest son, William Stephens Clark (1839–1925) to the helm of C. & J.

[19] William Clark put in place an accelerated repayment plan that saw indebtedness drop considerably to 1873 when he became a partner in the business with his father James.

"Peter Lord" was created by Hugh Bryan Clark as a retail brand to avoid alarming agents or alerting competitors to the company's activities.

In line with the findings the company launched its new children's ranges in 1945 with a choice of four width fittings, simultaneously with the new Clarks foot gauge that acted as a scientific measuring instrument to aid the shop assistant.

Daniel Clark resigned in 1986 replaced by John Clothier (son of Peter) who remained CEO throughout the turbulent buy-out negotiations with Berisford International Plc, a properties commodities group that attempted to take the troubled company public.

Street consequently remains the epicentre for company operations, a distribution facility having been constructed in the village in 2005 with the capacity to process 1 million pairs of shoes per week.

[45][46] In January 2021, Viva China Holdings has agreed to acquire 51 per cent of LionRock Capital Partners QiLe Limited, the private equity firm which will own the Clarks brand, for £51 million.

The advertisement campaign was said to "create scenarios based on familiar primary school situations with authentic interactions between real schoolchildren and teachers".

The company claim that the "football inspired playprints sole design lets kids leave their own unique impression on the world".

The coverage for the Desert Boot was consolidated by advertising that targeted the 'campus trade' of Berkeley, Cornell, Harvard, North Carolina and Yale Universities through ads in Esquire and college magazines.

[citation needed] The business grew further in 1979 through the acquisition of Bostonian, a well-respected men's dress shoe brand, adding 25 more shop locations as well as entry into 70 leased stores and discounting outlets.

[65] The company's best-known product is the Desert Boot—a distinctive ankle height boot with crepe sole usually made out of calf suede leather traditionally supplied by Charles F Stead & Co tannery in Leeds.

Nathan Clark was an officer in the Royal Army Service Corps posted to Burma in 1941 with orders to help establish a supply route from Rangoon to the Chinese forces at Chongqing whilst also launching a series of offensives throughout South East Asia.

The Desert Boot was cut on the men's Guernsey Sandal last and sampled in a neutral beige-grey 2 mm chrome bend split suede.

The Desert Boot was initially sold in Britain through shops in Regent Street, featuring a Union Jack sewn into the label, targeted at tourists.

As General Manager of the factory, Paddy Roberts took the shoe to a trade fair in New York in the same year, whereupon he quickly learnt that the trademark Grasshopper had been licensed.

[citation needed] Another style associated with the Lance Clark who had seen a Zwartjes version of the shoe on the feet of artist Sonja Landweer in the late 1960s.

The shoe was initially launched in North America in 1971 as Trek, before featuring in the UK range in 1972 where it was renamed Hike, owing to an existing footwear trademark.

Writes Fingers, "In the early 70s, the rude boy/desert boot association became so strong that young males risked a beating by police simply for wearing a pair.

He tells the story of an infamous Kingston police officer called Joe Williams, who carried out a raid on a dance being run by producer and label boss "Sir Coxsone" Dodd.

"[70] Reggae and dancehall stars Dillinger, Trinity, Ranking Joe, Scorcher, Little John, Super Cat and countless others had sung about Clarks in the past.

[71][72] While the Clarks Desert Boots became fashionable in the Beatnik Culture in the US, they became popular with youth in the UK after being adopted by Sixties Mods who wore them as part of both smart and casual clothing outfits.

While the shoes are appropriate for a unisex look, they were particularly popular with male mods who wore them with military parkas, tailor-made suits with narrow lapels (sometimes made of mohair), thin ties, button-down collar shirts, and wool or cashmere jumpers.

They famously featured quite heavily in the 1979 "Quadrophenia", Franc Roddam's film adaptation of the Who's rock opera influencing in turn the Britpop movement of the 1990s.

"[86] The shoe was long a staple of fashionable West Indians in New York City but towards the 1990s had fallen out of favor in hip-hop circles who tended to gravitate toward Timberland boots or sneakers.