If you haven’t heard, Crocs are making a comeback – and this time they’re headed West. From the spongy flat originals to the wedged heels reminiscent of Y2K style, the 2002 footwear brand has introduced a myriad of designs based on its famed foam material and multi-hole adornments. But now, the company is branching out, launching a new addition to its collection: cowboy boots. On 5 October, Crocs announced the new boot offering, which was said to be motivated by the brand’s fanbase. “For years, the buzz around a Crocs-inspired cowboy boot has been building, creating a genuine fan-fueled movement trending across social media,” the statement read. “Recognising this passion, Crocs is making fan dreams come true, turning the Crocs Classic Cowboy Boot into a reality.” The boots may be bendable, but with two spurs, a faux leather shaft, intricate stitching, and a scaly vamp, the only tell-tale sign these are Crocs is the trademark foam handle wrapped around the counter. Available starting 23 October for a limited time only, the new Class Cowboy Boot is priced at $120. The shoes will be sold online and in stores. On social media, people don’t know what to make of the new footwear, with some praising the design while others have been more critical. “Why...why do I not hate these?” one person asked, while another said: “Crocs came out with cowboy boots! Someone take my money!” Others were more skeptical, with someone else writing: “Crocs released cowboy boots. That’s enough internet for today.” Another person described the new shoes as “foul”. Crocs’ new release comes in conjunction with the brand’s known “Croctober” celebration, where the company offers a special style every year during October. Usually, the exclusive design is said to be inspired by their dedicated following. Among the company’s notable releases are a slew of collaborations with name brands and celebrities. The Palace x Crocs offering ditched the known structure and handle associated with the foam footwear for a slide with prints representative of the Skateboard brand. Unfortunately, the collaboration has since been sold out. Recently, Levi’s and Crocs partnered to reimagine the All-Terrain Clogs with a jean top and abstract design. And if you thought using garment material in the comfortable shoes was unimaginable, the company’s pairing with food chains will surprise you. With swatches of orange, green, and red slashed on the soles, platform options, and Slurpee-shaped jibbitz, the 7-Eleven x Crocs ushers in a whole new intersection between the convenience industry and footwear. Read More Paris Hilton struggles to remove $450 Crocs boots: ‘It’s a full-team effort’ Victoria Beckham shows off new $450 Crocs boots after claiming she would ‘rather die’ than wear brand Fans poke fun at Justin Bieber’s casual sweats while Hailey wears red dress to Rhode event Sarah Jessica Parker wears mismatched heels to New York City Ballet Gala Sarah Jessica Parker channels Carrie Bradshaw on the red carpet in mismatched shoes Does your pillowcase make a difference to your skin and hair health?

By Andrius Sytas RIGA (Reuters) -In a Stalinist skyscraper which dominates the skyline of Latvia's capital, dozens of elderly Russians

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Growing up in the early 2000s-2010s meant the rite of passage into alcohol inevitably involved terrible choices, from alcopops (RIP) to grim beers (Coors) and nasty wine. Mostly white, rarely red, while rosé that both looked and tasted like Ribena was a world away from the delicate pale provencal style we’re so au fait with now. Then as now, the cheaper the better. Location, grape variety, acidity levels – it all meant absolutely nothing. Hell, taste didn’t matter either. Slurp it fast enough and you’d barely notice a slight whiff of paintstripper on the nose or a lingering hint of vinegar on the palate. It was just your (well below) average plonk. The number one important factor was price – swiftly followed by ABV, of course. The rough budget for a bottle was the mighty sum of £3-4. A tenner was a good night out. Remember those days? It was around this time that sauvignon blanc began its world domination. It was the IT wine to buy. Rocking up to your friend’s house with a bottle in tow made you look like you knew something about wine, maybe even had great taste (despite still buying the cheapest bottle possible, of course). It was even better if it was from New Zealand – top points if it came from Marlborough, the top of the South Island, where about 70 per cent of the country’s wine is produced. Love wine but don’t know where to start? The Independent Wine Club features curated cases from small growers and expert advice on how to enjoy wine. Sign up now for free. While Gen Z seem to have broken free of British booze culture altogether, when I was at university, rosé was the go-to pre-drink before a night on the tiles. And lots of it. It’s been off the table ever since. The mere smell of it takes me right back to those heady, alcohol-drenched days. Perhaps it’s just a case of unfortunate timing for my age group – victims of the wine’s popularity surging at the height of early-Noughties boozing culture. But why did sauvignon blanc become so popular 15 years ago? ​​Emily Harmen, wine consultant at Firmdale Hotels and Vina Lupa, says it’s “simply because when people get into wine, they usually like wines that are quite fruity”. Sauvignon blanc offers these fruity notes, as well as freshness. It’s famed for its notes of crisp asparagus, green pepper and often a grassy or herbaceous flavour too. High acidity makes it very dry. The New Zealand sauvignon blanc vines were planted in the Seventies, and its arrival on the British scene a few decades later served as a pointed change in taste from the overly oaked Chardonnays and sickly syrupy rieslings (the latter is now cool again; more drinkable and less sweet) that were popular at the time. Sam Tendall, co-founder of online wine shop Smashed Grapes agrees, and says sauvignon blanc’s prominent rise is owed to consumers wanting “lip-smackingly thirst-quenching drinks… that are naturally high in acidity with tropical fruit flavours”, and wines from Marlborough had that sort of fruitiness people were looking for. It wasn’t just in wine that tastes were changing, either. “This taste shift was mirrored in other drinks such as the boom of gin and flavoured tonics, or tropical IPAs in the beer world, which are all high in acidity and fruity,” Tendall adds. It quickly became Britain’s most popular white wine choice, both in supermarkets and restaurant wine menus, whether that’s by the glass or bottle, or even served as the house wine. Lauren Denyer, an educator at the Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET), says that along with New Zealand’s “tropical fruit, such as passion fruit and mango, which many drinkers find very appealing”, it’s also its “lightness which make it easily quaffable”. However popular it may be, it can still divide opinion in the upper echelons of the wine world, especially among the more commercial labels that everyone is familiar with (Oyster Bay, we’re looking at you). Sauvignon blanc grapes originate in France, where the premium wines, Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé (from the highly regarded French regions of the same names) are still made. These are usually seen as a step up from your average savvy B, despite being made with the same grapes, and not just because they’re more expensive, but because they’re more complex. A lot of the Kiwi sauvignon blanc’s popularity is down to marketing. They do it very, very well to us Brits, who largely bought NZ’s green image (although there’s nothing green about shipping wine to the other side of the world). The price point of New Zealand’s offering also made them appealing. “People probably know the New Zealand sauvignon blanc more as it’s a more accessible price point… wines from the Loire region are more expensive because it’s a more challenging climate to grow wine, so you produce less,” explains Harmen. Its popularity knew no boundaries during the Noughties. So much so that wine makers couldn’t grow enough of the grapes. According to the NZ Winegrowers association’s annual 2020 report, between 2003 and 2015, sauvignon blanc vine planting increased five-fold to keep up with the demand. Although now, as climates warm up around the world leading to more extreme and freak weather, experts think it’s only a matter of time until this changes the wines beyond their signature characteristics. This has seen as recently as February when New Zealand felt the force of cyclone Gabrielle, which saw unprecedented amounts of rain and devastating effects including flooding some vineyards and burying others in silt on the North Island, just ahead of harvesting. In 2021, a harsh frost combined with an early budburst meant the crop yields were down by 30 per cent. The knock-on effect is already being felt, along with the rise in inflation and cost of living crisis, as Tendall says, in the wider market: “Sauvignon blanc is going up in price and big branded pinot grigio has stayed at the value end, so with the cost of living we are seeing a small decline in sauvignon popularity.” The pandemic has also contributed to a change in tastes and buying habits. Some people stopped drinking altogether, while others used the time to nurture their passion for it. As shopping in person became harder, subscription boxes and independent online sellers introduced lesser known varieties to the market. Dayner explains: “Prompted by the pandemic, drinking the same wines regularly became less desirable”, and instead, people were “increasingly willing to try a wider range of wines and sales of wine for home consumption increased hugely as drinkers looked to mix things up a little bit”. Harman doesn’t see any indication that the guests of the hotels she consults for (which are mostly high end including London’s Ham Yard Hotel and The Soho Hotel) are changing their mind on sauvignon blanc. However, she deals in artisan, handcrafted and mostly organic wines, rather than the commercial wines we buy in supermarkets for less than £10. Instead, what Harman is seeing more of is some producers experimenting with skin contact styles, and more natural varieties, a style which sauvignon blanc grapes lend themselves well to. “A producer in Australia called Tom Shobbrook makes a wine called giallo (yellow in Italian) which is one of the benchmark examples of the more experimental natural wines,” she explains. Skin contact sauvignon blanc feels a world away from my entry level days into savvy B, which were so atrocious that I steered clear of white wine for many years. It was the reappearance of viognier on menus that enticed me back – in particular an organic viognier from South Australia’s Yalumba vineyard. But if you really can’t hack it, I asked the experts for their advice, and these are the wines to drink if you don’t like Sauvignon blanc: 1. Verdejo All three experts mentioned this wine. “From Spain’s Rueda region, it’s the country’s favourite white wine, loved for its brisk acidity and vibrant fruit. It’s now starting to become more popular in the UK market,” says Denyer. 2. Picpoul For something more mineral, that’s lighter and fresh, Harmen suggests Picpoul, which is quickly growing in popularity again. Denyer adds that “although grown somewhere that can get extremely hot, the wines are super-fresh with apple, lemon and hints of peach on the palate”. 3. Bacchus Denyer says: “It’s a grape variety that is originally a German cross. It has all the appeal of Sauvignon Blanc and a plus point is that the wine does not have to travel far. You can even get sparkling versions, great for summer picnics and gatherings.” 4. Albariño “Also from Spain, the main grape in Vinho Verde and is a cracking patio wine, jam-packed with the lemon sherbert refreshment sauvignon blanc drinkers love,” says Tendall. 5. Austrian Grüner Veltliner “Forgot its old reputation of tasting like antifreeze, it’s full of those classic gooseberry flavours long associated with top Marlborough varieties,” says Tendall. 6. Trebianno “This Italian white has delicate aromatics with white flowers, it’s quite savoury with more peachy fruit flavours,” says Harmen. For more white wine inspiration that’s not sauvignon blanc read our review of the best dry whites here Read More The Independent Wine Club best cases 2023: Wine from small growers Win a mixed wine case, perfect for pairing with food Uncorked: How do I keep my wine cool at a picnic? The Independent Wine Club best cases 2023: Wine from small growers Win a mixed wine case, perfect for pairing with food Uncorked: How do I keep my wine cool at a picnic?

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Logan Paul and KSI’s Prime has defended the levels of caffeine in its beverages after facing a backlash. It comes after health experts called on the US Food and Drug Administration to investigate the energy drink company. A 12 oz can of Prime, which was founded by YouTube stars Logan Paul and KSI, contains 200mg of caffeine, equivalent to about half a dozen Coke cans or nearly two Red Bulls. The brand released a statement to People on July 11, saying: “PRIME Energy, sold in a can, dropped in 2023 and contains a comparable amount of caffeine to other top selling energy drinks, all falling within the legal limit of the countries it’s sold in.” Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter The spokesperson for the brand said that the drink “complied with all FDA guidelines” prior to hitting the market and indicated on the packaging that PRIME energy drinks are “not made for anyone under the age of 18.” “As a brand, our top priority is consumer safety, so we welcome discussions with the FDA or any other organisation regarding suggested industry changes they feel are necessary in order to protect consumers,” they added. Earlier this week, New York Senator Charles Schumer urged the FDA to launch a probe into Paul’s energy drink, which became an overnight sensation when it launched last year. “One of the summer’s hottest status symbols for kids is not an outfit, or a toy – it’s a beverage,” the Democratic senator said in a letter to the FDA. “But buyer and parents beware because it’s a serious health concern for the kids it so feverishly targets." Prime has become a phenomenon since being launched in 2022, to the extent it’s sold for ridiculous prices, made one shop in Wakefield go viral, and even been reviewed by foul-mouthed chef Gordon Ramsay. The collaboration between Paul and KSI (real name Olajide “JJ” Olatunji) was announced back in January last year, with the pair just recently touring Munich, Barcelona, Copenhagen and Oslo to promote the drink. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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