Would you pay $2500 for a pair of Crocs?

Sneaker-head Rudy Serrano was given a pair of Crocs on December 8. “My girlfriend woke up at six in the morning to buy them for me. Thank you, babe.”

Serrano’s pair of black and pink colored slingback clogs, with symmetrical die-cut vents throughout its rubber-duck like finish, are not your average pair of Crocs. Post Malone, 2021 Grammy-nominated rapper, co-signed on them.

Serrano and his girlfriend were lucky that cold Tuesday morning when the Post Malone Crocs Duet Max Clog II dropped. Worldwide hip-hop heads and Croc fans waited online and in line to cop a pair at $59. These were the fifth collaborative set of kicks between the 25-year-old “Rockstar” rapper and the circa-2002 footwear company.

“I’ve been wearing Crocs for 14 years,” continued Serrano. “Back then, they were humiliating to wear. People would always bother me and make fun of me. Now look, they’re selling out in minutes.”

As I spoke with Serrano on February 1, an eBayer was selling a pair of Crocs Post Malone Dimitri Clog “feet whips” for $2500. Included with the white and yellow shoes was the original baggie that protected the pair’s finish when it shipped out in late 2018.

Serrano is a cook at the Big Kitchen Cafe in South Park. “I own about 15 pairs of Crocs. In the culinary world, they’re popular because they’re comfy as f-ck.”

“Most of the time, when people clown me for wearing Crocs, I say, ‘If you’re gonna waste my time and make fun of my Crocs, lemme tell you the good things about them.’ I take them off my feet and say, ‘Try these on.’”

Word on the South Park streets is that Serrano has gifted around ten pairs of the foam-based clogs to various people. Serrano showed me DM-correspondences between him and two individuals he “Croc-verted.”

“I joined the gang,” read one message underneath a shoefie, a shoe selfie photo taken from the standing position. “I love these things. I’m devout.” The other message was a shoefie video of sand-colored Crocs before they entered a liquor store.

“‘Welcome, brother. Welcome to the Croc Nation,’ I say to all of them.”

Serrano is a graffiti muralist on the side.

“What about when you’re out in the cut?” I inquired.

“These are all-terrain. You can walk in swamps and climb fences. If you try to paint in the sewer where there is rain runoff, and the shoes got wet, they’re good. And when the paint drips on the shoes, it’s an art piece in itself, and after a few missions, you got these Crocs in all these different colors. Hip-hoppers always accepted me in my Crocs.”

Certain bar-hoppers diss on Serrano, especially when he sports his favorite pair of “mandals” in the neon-green finish. “One dude said to me: ‘I can’t believe you’re wearing Crocs.’ I’m like, ‘Do you wanna believe you’re getting your ass kicked by a guy wearing Crocs.’ That was the most extreme.”

Then there was the time when Serrano was exiting the Turf Supper Club, south of Balboa Park.

“A guy was wearing Chuck Taylors and was making fun of my Crocs. I said, ‘Let’s race around the block with my Crocs on, and whoever wins gets the next round.’ He took me up, and I smoked him. When I crossed the finish line, he was only three quarters around the block. He bought me two drinks.”

I called storefronts around the county in hopes of purchasing Post Malone Crocs. Not a single pair was available. I direct messaged Dante Rowley, the owner of Rosewood San Diego, a downtown spot where hip-hop heads converge to buy rare footwear and gear.

“Right now, we only have the Justin Beiber Crocs in the store. They actually sell pretty well. I wasn’t a fan of [Crocs] because I thought they looked lame, but now many people I know who are very into fashion have been wearing them. My girlfriend wanted the Bad Bunny pair that was released recently. It’s almost like the return of normcore. I wouldn’t ever buy a pair, but if I were given one, I would try them out.”

Serrano said he was on his way.