Only last month in the pages of Esquire Middle East, we discussed the merits of MSCHF‘s Big Red Boot, wondering on how long the fashion industry might continue to act out its most hype fantasies. While many believed it to be a one-drop wonder, it turns out that the boot isn’t finished just yet, and the brand has announced a rather unexpected restocking of the item that’s about to flood your social feeds once again.
The manga-inspired footwear—based on the shoe of choice for the Japanese character Astro Boy—boinged its way into our life around early February (just in time for Fashion Week street style). In one giant stride it marked our consciousness indelibly. The biggest sign yet that what we consider wearable had fundamentally changed on a global scale.
Selling out in double-quick time, the resale market for the shoe simply blew up, with sneaker marketplace StockX showing, at one stage, an opening bid priced at AED6,350.
While hype for the boot was fuelled largely on TikTok (the hashtag is currently around 25 million views), it was also found to be the most searched on Google across the U.S., Mongolia, Lebanon and Puerto Rico—in that order—by the influencer marketing company Ubiquitous.
The New York-based art collective behind the Boot has form when it comes to outlandish footwear statements, of course. MSCHF’s 2022 AC.1 shoe drop – based on an orthopaedic boot – brought hype to recovery wear (about time, right?), while their collab with Lil Nas X on a modified version of some Nike kicks containing a drop of human blood (Nike allegedly sued) sold out in under a minute. However, the Boot was a nod to something else. A shift in real-time, acceptable tastes, a sign we had entered a new style era.
“Cartoonification [of fashion] isn’t just a passing trend,” explains Julia Levshina, a phygital stylist and strategist who goes by the name of @digitalfashionstylist on Instagram. “Along with hyperrealistic fashion, it can have a lasting impact on the industry and society at large. As the physical and digital worlds continue to merge, cartoonification and hyperreality will transform the way we think about fashion, self expression and personal style.”
MSCHF’s Big Red Boot is scheduled to restock on the brand’s sneaker app from June 13, priced at approximately AED1,030.