SATAN’S SHOES
High-end trainers prove to be America’s latest spiritual battleground
In collaboration with rapper Lil Nas X, the ‘conceptual art collective’ MSCHF (mischief, presumably) has produced a limited edition of 666 customised Nike Air Max 97 trainers, each of which contains a drop of human blood. The creative collaboration was intended to promote the Lil Nas X song ‘Montero (Call Me By Your Name)’, released in March 2021 and immediately topping the USA’s Billboard Hot 100, Rolling Stone Top 100 and the UK’s singles charts; it also hit big in many other countries. The single cover features Lil Nas X as both Adam and God in a reinterpretation of Michelangelo’s The Creation of Adam. As with some of Lil Nas X’s previous work, the lyrics feature LGBT themes. The song’s subtitle references the 2017 film by director Luca Guadagnino, Call Me By Your Name, a comingof-age drama about a romance between two young men.
The sneakers are primarily black, but the number of each pair is printed in red (e.g.’ 4/666’), as is ‘Luke 10:18’, the biblical verse that reads: “And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven”. The ‘Satan shoes’ quickly sold out online, arousing the ire of conservative politicians, but also that of Nike themselves, who complained that “sophisticated sneakerheads” would be “confused” by the custom trainers, assuming them to be official Nike products.
The company issued a lawsuit preventing MSCHF from posting the shoes out to customers, even though all 666 pairs had already been purchased. The company’s legal documents said MSCHF had “materially altered” its trainers “to prominently feature a Satanic theme… without Nike’s approval or authorisation”.
In response, MSCHF, which describes itself as engaging in “fashion, art, tech and capitalism in various, often unexpected mediums”, insisted the sneakers were not pirated or imitation Nikes but were instead works of art, and denied they would corrupt American youth and ensnare them in Devil-worship. Nike rejected the work-of-art claim, on the basis that MSCHF “did not create a single shoeshaped sculpture to sit in a museum” but had instead “created hundreds of shoes emblazoned with a NikeSwoosh that it sold to allcomers”.
“We are not affiliated with Nike,” a statement on the MSCHF website read, “as we have consistently iterated to the press. We were honestly surprised by the action Nike has taken, and immediately after Nike’s counsel sent us notice we reached out but received no response.” They added that the ‘Satan Shoes’ project had “started a conversation, while also living natively in its space” (whatever that means). Lil Nas X had offered the final pair of the shoes as a competition prize, but was compelled to announce to his disappointed followers: “Sorry guys, I’m legally not allowed to give the 666th away anymore because of the crying nerds on the Internet. I feel like it’s fucked up they have so much power they can get shoes cancelled. Freedom of expression gone out the window.”
MSCHF’s statement insisted the shoes were “art created for people to observe, speculate on, purchase and own,” adding: “Satan is as much part of the art historical canon as Jesus, from Renaissance Hellmouths to Milton.” The collective had previously produced a batch of all-white ‘Jesus shoes’ containing holy water, to which, given the lack of legal action, Nike apparently had no objection. Guardian, 3 Apr 2021.
In 2019, Evangelical churchgoer Ben Kirby was watching a performance of worship songs on YouTube when he noticed that the lead singer was sporting a pair of Yeezy branded sneakers that cost nearly as much as his monthly rent bill. Kirby posted to his Instagram account, with its 400 followers: “Hey Elevation Worship, how much you paying your musicians that they can afford $800 kicks? Let me get on the payroll!”
This was the genesis of Kirby’s new Instragram account – @ PreachersNSneakers – which follows the footwear worn by American spiritual leaders and posts screenshots of pastors, their shoes and the hefty price tags attached to them. Within a month, Kirby’s account had gained 100,000 followers. “I began asking, how much is too much?” Kirby said. “Is it okay to get rich off of preaching about Jesus? Is it okay to be making twice as much as the median income of your congregation?” He has gone on to showcase Seattle pastor Judah Smith’s $3,600 Gucci jacket, Miami pastor Guillermo Maldonado’s $2,541 Ricci crocodile belt and Trump pastoral advisor Paula White’s $785 Stella McCartney sneakers. Washington Post, 22 Mar; Church Times, 1 April 2021.