"Jesus Shoes" cashes in on greed and superstition

More evidence that you can't be a satirist anymore, as reported by Alexandra Deabler of Fox News, October 9, 2019 (link in original):

That’s a holy lot of money.

A limited-edition sneaker, which is filled with holy water in the soles and blessed by a priest, sold out within minutes of its debut, despite each pair costing a whopping $3,000.

Brooklyn-based creative label MSCHF is responsible for releasing the shoe, which is a pair of all-white Nike Air Max 97s -- though the design is in no way affiliated with Nike -- that have been injected with holy water sourced from the Jordan River. The water, which is visible in the see-through sole, has some coloring added to enhance visibility, the shoe’s creator told Fox News.

The kicks, succinctly called “Jesus Shoes,” also feature the Bible verse Matthew 14:25 — the passage describing Jesus walking on water — and a single blood drop to represent the blood of Christ.

Among the other religious details are the frankincense-scented insoles, a crucifix threaded through the laces, and a red sole, which references the red shoes traditionally worn by past Popes.

The shoebox itself also displays an angel and a seal that resembles the official papal seal.

The shoes, which were bought at Nike retail value by MSCHF designers before being re-designed, were part of a desire for the MSCHF brand to poke fun at collaboration culture.

“We thought of that Arizona Iced Tea and Adidas collab, where they were selling shoes that [advertised] a beverage company that sells iced tea at bodegas,” head of commerce Daniel Greenberg tells the New York Post. “So we wanted to make a statement about how absurd collab culture has gotten.”

“We were wondering, what would a collab with Jesus Christ look like?” he added.

Less than two dozen of the Jesus Shoes were made with no plans to create more, according to MSCHF. Although, Gabriel Whaley, founder of the brand, hinted there may be a “second coming” in the future.

The MSCHF label releases new items every 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month.

As reported by Lauren Steussy and Hannah Frishberg in the New York Post, October 8, 2019:

What would Jesus wear? The sickest sneakers ever dropped, most likely.

Nike shoes with actual holy water in the soles are going for as much as $3,000 a pop, and sold out in mere minutes when they dropped Tuesday morning. “Jesus Shoes” are made with 100% frankincense wool (get it?), while the laces are strewn with a crucifix.

The godly shoes were made by Brooklyn-based product design company MSCHF, which created about two dozen of the kicks as a way of trolling “collab culture,” its head of commerce Daniel Greenberg tells The Post.

“We thought of that Arizona Iced Tea and Adidas collab, where they were selling shoes that [advertised] a beverage company that sells iced tea at bodegas,” Greenberg says. “So we wanted to make a statement about how absurd collab culture has gotten.”

To do that, it started with “one of the most influential figures in history,” Jesus Christ.

“We were wondering, what would a collab with Jesus Christ look like?” Greenberg says. “As a Jew myself, the only thing I knew was that he walked on water.”

The holy water MSCHF injected into Air Max 97 bubble soles came from the Jordan River — “I have a friend in Israel,” Greenberg says — and was blessed by a priest.

Shoe drops like these, followed obsessively by rabid fans called “hypebeasts,” have become an economy unto themselves. Cash-strapped fashion fans are even turning to the underground streetwear market to make ends meet, reselling duds from the likes of Supreme and Kith.

To promote its shoes, MSCHF sent about six pairs to YouTubers and other big shots, such as rapper A$AP Rocky, prior to the drop. Then, by 11 a.m. Tuesday, it posted them on the retail site StockX.

The shoes were in no part affiliated with Nike — MSCHF bought the sneakers at retail value and hand-created the design. MSCHF anticipates making “biweekly drops at 11 a.m. on every second and fourth Tuesday of each month,” Greenberg says.

“But this one was the holiest of all the collabs,” he says.