Dragging your feet is one thing — cladding them in giant red boots is another.
The Big Red Boot by avant-garde art brand MSCHF (“mischief”) has been spotted everywhere from influencers on the streets to New York Fashion Week to TikTok grandpas.
Singer Ciara showed off her pair on Instagram this week:
The boots made their debut online Thursday at $350 a pop and sold out within seven minutes or mere seconds — depending on who you ask.
The “Big Red Boot” (BRB) is now being hocked on sites like eBay for prices north of $800.
What is the ‘Big Red Boot’?
The BRB is a product from the brand MSCHF. A common comparison has been to the Astro Boy character of the eponymous franchise, who wears big red boots and black underwear. The brand itself cited Dora The Explorer, who has a monkey companion with red boots.
The giant, clown-like footwear is made from plastic and rubber, per the product’s detail page.
The cartoonish aesthetic is on purpose and made to challenge the concept of reality in an increasingly metaverse-like world, the product description says.
“Cartoonishness is an abstraction that frees us,” MSCHF writes. “If you kick someone in these boots, they go boing!”
What is MSCHF?
Founded by Gabriel Whaley in 2016, MSCHF “is an art collective that engages art, fashion, tech, and capitalism” per its website.
The brand is known for outside-the-box fashion products like a pair of sneakers that supposedly had holy water in them from the Jordan River. The product is called “Jesus Shoes.”
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The brand has also made an art piece with an ATM that tracked the amount of money in checking counts of people who signed up to be a part of the project and withdrew money, and then put them in a visible ranking.
Far from making money or making a point, the absurdity is just sort of the point. “We’re not here to make the world a better place. We’re making light of how much everything sucks,” Whaley told Insider in 2021.
MSCHF also collaborated with Lil Nas X on Nike sneakers with a drop of real blood in them called “Satan Shoes,” but after a lawsuit for using the Nike logo on an unauthorized product, MSCHF was forced to settle with the sneaker behemoth and offer up refunds to people who bought them, per The New York Times.
But Whaley, a former Buzzfeed employee, has also proved to be somewhat of an expert at going viral, with the BRBs being the latest example.
Lil Wayne was even sporting them:
Where can I get the Big Red Boot?
Since the boots are sold out, you can add your name to an email list available on the product page. You can also check out secondary markets, but a huge upsell is likely.
At least one brand appears to make a similar boot, The Astro Boots, from MyCartoonBoots. They are often used in cosplay, the company says. They’re on sale right now for $29. An email to the company for comment bounced.
MSCHF claims in the product description it has a patent pending on its boots. It did not to a request for comment on when another round of BRBs might be available.
But, if you have the big red boots, the biggest problem might be getting out of them. One model had to cut themselves out of the boots:
This is how hard it was to get the Big Red Boots off of @Trinidadjamesgg pic.twitter.com/IsiZJQuHJT
— Matthew Welty (@MatthewJWelty) February 17, 2023
Some people were shocked at the price:
Wait… those big red boots are $350 ??? pic.twitter.com/aZLsGxaUzt
— Speak Yo Mind (@thatdamnbrook) February 11, 2023
Those Big Red Boots and the sudden hype surrounding them feels like the start of a Black Mirror episode…
— Regina Hoyles (@reginahoyles) February 17, 2023
Others were disappointed they didn’t get a pair, apparently:
If I see you in those big red boots, I’m pushing you over
— Alexander Supertramp (@JoshBronto) February 17, 2023
“are you wearing the-“
“The Big Red Astro Boy Boots? Yes I am” pic.twitter.com/6g4p6Kr8xH— Call Me Miguelito (@CAdreamboy) February 12, 2023