There's a surge of designer plastic shoes on the market, and you've got Crocs to blame. Turns out the popularity of the omnipresent plastic clogs — 100 million pairs sold in the last seven years — has made plastic shoes acceptable, and now designers are seeing how “they can tap into a market that the brand would generally not be able to reach.” Yves Saint Laurent, Givenchy, and Lacoste are all onboard, with styles mostly under $200. Hmmm. We've seen the industry take a lot of hits this past year, but deferring to the influence of Crocs? We're not sure how much more we can take. [NYT]