The world’s most recent—and bizarre—fashion trend has left the tragically unhip puzzled. Suddenly, it seems every social media influencer and even actual celebrities have huge, cartoonish red boots on their feet.
Why? And who made them?
And are these boots made for walkin’?
Who made them?
They would not be a fashion thing if someone cool didn’t come up with them. Fortunately for global trendoids, the monster boots are produced by Brooklyn-based collective (and online anomaly) MSCHF. If you think you haven’t heard of them before, you could be mistaken.
MSCHF was behind a few of the greatest stunts to take place in recent years. In fact, one could say it’s their specialty.
In July 2022, they teamed up with Diplo to host a surprise set outside of an ice cream truck on Melrose Ave. All the delectable, frozen treats served on-site donned the faces of the world’s top one percenters in a hugely successful “eat the rich” event.
MSCHF previously partnered with hip-hop artist Lil Nas X to mastermind one of the most intriguing—and controversial—collaborations of 2021: unofficial Nikes peddled as “Satan Shoes.” The Nike Air Max 97s retrofitted with a bronze pentagram, the upside-down cross “devil symbol” popular with ’80s hair metal bands and, purportedly, a drop of blood, were went for $1,018 and sold out in under a minute. Nike quickly sued and later settled that case.
Who is wearing them?
As we said, just about every celebrity and influencer who has been able to get their hands on them.
Janelle Monae hooping in Mschf boots 🏀 pic.twitter.com/WrBJzsRWzf
— Daily Loud (@DailyLoud) February 11, 2023
Lil Wayne wearing MSCHF boots & NLE Choppa has 2 pairs of jeans on pic.twitter.com/ccR9Av7r99
— Daily Loud (@DailyLoud) February 12, 2023
From model Sarah Snyder, influencer-fashionista Wisdom Kaye, rapper Lil Wayne, and electronic artist Diplo, to actress Janella Monae and Basketball player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, these boots seem to be on every prominent person’s feet.
Why is everyone wearing them?
The answer is simple: Hype. Along with the satanic kicks and the rabble-rousing frozen treats, MSCHF also put up a website titled “Zuckwatch” which is gated with a password. To this day, it is yet to be solved, and even spawned a subreddit that previously tried to crack it.
One of their more recent classics was an ATM at Art Basel that ranked the checking balances of everyone that used it.
As for the Big Red Boots, while they’ve been hyped for days now, they only became available to the public on Thursday and quickly sold out at a retail price of $350. If you still want to snag a pair, you can pick them up for a minimum of $1,200—if they have your size available.
Were these boots made for walkin’?
According to Youtuber and content creator Steve Natto, they’re “surprisingly comfortable.”
Natto wore them to Sneaker Con in Philadelphia last week and then reported back to Mashable with his thoughts.
“I really didn’t know what to expect but they’re definitely just big and a little bulky and feel way different at least on the height of your foot or leg compared to any other shoes,” Natto said. “But when you’re actually walking, whatever they’ve done to the insole and how the shoe feels it is actually kind of comfortable.”
The boots weigh about 3.5 pounds each and are composed of a single thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) rubber exterior shell with an ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) interior.
Are they inspired by Astro Boy?
Not necessarily. Though the Mighty Atom’s footwear is incredibly reminiscent of the Big Red Boot, it’s yet to be confirmed by anyone at MSCHF. Many have also pointed to Papa Smurf, but that seems far less likely.
In reality, the only hint we have is from a press release given to the Wall Street Journal, in which the collective states they are “good thinking boots.” This is a quote from Nickelodeon’s Dora the Explorer and may link them to her sidekick, named Boots.
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