A limited edition Nike Air Max 97 sneaker with its transparent sole
filled with “holy water” from the Jordan River sold out within minutes
of its official release, despite a prohibitive price tag of $3,000 per
pair.
Officially named “MSCHF x INRI Jesus Shoes”, the white sneakers had
their soles injected with 60 ccs of water from the Jordan River and were
allegedly blessed by a priest. It’s been reported that although the
limited edition footwear was designed from the all-white Nike Air Max
97s, Nike itself is not affiliated with this project. MSCHF are said to
have bought the Nike sneakers at retail value and then applied their
original design ideas to create a metaphor of “walking on water”.
Apart from the blue-dyed “holy water” sploshing in their soles, the
MSCHF x INRI Jesus Shoes features several Christian symbols, like the
the Bible verse from Matthew 14:25, which refers to the story of Jesus
walking on water, a single red dot symbolizing Jesus’ blood, a crucifix
attached to the laces, and last, but certainly not least,
frankincense-scented insoles.
Luckily, the overt-the-top sneakers were only meant to highlight just
how absurd collab culture has become in recent years, as MSCHF head of
commerce, Daniel Greenberg, told the New York 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. 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? As a Jew myself, the only thing I knew was that he
walked on water.”
The tongue-in-cheek nature of the project didn’t stop people from
snatching up the shoes within minutes of their launch. Fewer than
two-dozen pairs of MSCHF x INRI Jesus Shoes were posted on retail site
StockX last Tuesday, at a price of $3,000 each, but immediately sold
out.
The unique sneakers can still be bought on StockX right now, as long as you’re willing to pay between $2,000 and $3,900 per pair.
