Controversy seems to be the name of the game in streetwear and sneakers once again. Viral American rapper Lil Nas X has stirred up the world the wrong way with his new Air Max 97 collaboration with MSCHF, a Brooklyn-based company known for their lineup of weird boundary-pushing products.
Ironically christened as the ‘Satan Shoes’, the pair is a follow up to their 2019 offering–the “Jesus Shoes” (which has been said to have holy water straight from the River Jordan), the new offering seems to border on the gross and negative as it’s reported to contain real human blood.
Numbered at 666 pairs, the said blood feature can be found with a mix of ink that fills the air bubbles in the Air Max 97.
Priced at a ridiculously high tag of $1018(~Php 49.4k), the sneakers go too far as it even has a pentagram-shaped charm with Luke 10:18 biblical passage that reads: ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.’
With the expected controversy the sneaker is set to generate, Nike strongly denies having ties to the artist and the collaboration.
Is this how you sell a product? By provoking people’s senses and emotions? We feel it’s a bit forced as the rapper’s sudden image change looks like a rebellious copout. For the hefty price tag on the Lil Nas X Air Max 97, there’s only one thing going to hell: your budget.
In other news, we just sat down with this UK-based designer to talk about his Travis Scott-inspired Bapestas. Read it here.
