New York Fashion Week is where trendsetters and style-setters gather. Naturally, fashion tends to trickle down, from runway looks to street style ensembles. While most of this season's trends are gaudy — rosettes, slingbacks, and bare thongs (I say what I say) — there's one shoe that's making waves on the internet: bright red boots.
Photos of the aptly named shoe were first released on February 6, and since then it has been known colloquially as the "Astro Boy" boot, a reference to Osamu Tezuka's famous 1963 cartoon of the anime character shoe.
The $350 shoes are made by MSCHF Sneakers, a sub-brand of Brooklyn-based art collective MSCHF. It's safe to say that the brand is known for pushing the boundaries of fashion. Remember those wave shoes that looked a lot like VANS? This is a creation of MSCHF. Or these cast-like medical boots? Also provided by MSCHF. The brand even released its controversial "Satan Shoes" collaboration with Lil Nas X, which contained a drop of real blood.
In the name of "experimentation," MSCHF co-founder Daniel Greenberg told Highsnobiety, "The Big Red Boot is an implementation of a specific cartoon abstract shoe." He added: "The shoe will never be shaped like a foot. The Big Red Boot They're not really shaped like feet, but they're shaped very much like boots."
That's how they are.
MSCHF Big Red BootStockX
On Twitter, the boots are the gift that keeps on giving. By this time, the creator of the Crimson Statement was widely remembered.
The controversial shoe has its fans, though, with celebrities and influencers already rocking the shoes. Singer and actress Janelle Monáe tweeted her pair, which she paired with a boxy striped cardigan.
Meanwhile, Lil Wayne was spotted at a New York Fashion Week event wearing a pair of his own, with the bold footwear becoming a mainstay at the event. Attendees across the city were wearing the shoes non-stop. The week isn't over yet, but the big red boots have become part of New York Fashion Week's unofficial launch pack.
If you thought this shoe had peaked, I'm sorry to be the harbinger of a particularly harsh reality check. These babies haven't actually dropped yet, which means you'll likely be seeing more of these giant kicks after they release on February 16th. You have been warned.
