When models took to the spring/summer catwalk at Chanel decked in clunky wooden clogs, a collective eyebrow was raised. This wasn't the first time the French fashion house had toyed with the traditional heel – last year saw one shaped like a gun, this season, one so arched it looked set to snap – but a thick slab of wood? After machete-sharp platform stilettos, which well-trained consumer would plump for footwear this clumpy, this … ugly?

Thousands, apparently. With their practical, natural and – compared to most shoes from previous years – rather modest qualities, clogs have chimed, like no other shoe this season, with the post-recession predilection for simplicity and authenticity. As Will Galgey, the man who tracks trends at The Futures Company, says: “Consumers have shown a strong desire to embrace products and brands that in some way feel more natural; the wood and leather on clogs feels very earthy. Now people have a much greater sense of being more reserved, introverted and considered in their choices. Clogs are a good representation of that and an antidote to the pre-recession excess and exuberance.”

It helps when there's a significant celebrity backer, too. Gracing the cover of the March edition of British Vogue was Alexa Chung, fashion's new paradigm of down-at-heel beauty, wearing the utilitarian uniform – the boyfriend jacket, the androgynous white shirt, the turned-up jeans and those Chanel clogs: brown leather mules, sides stamped with glossy brass studs, uppers licked with brick-thick wooden soles.