With these 'Jesus Shoes', you can literally walk on water
Jesus can walk on water, and now, so can about two dozen people. Brooklyn-based creative company MSCHF has created limited-edition "Jesus Shoes" that have literally been blessed. MSCHF customized the Nike Air Max 97 by filling them up with 60cc holy water and dropped them Tuesday when they sold out in minutes. You can still grab a pair from resale websites if you've got $3,000.
The distinctive Air Max 97 MSCHF x INRI Jesus Shoes contain 60cc of water from the River Jordan in Israel, where Jesus is believed to have been baptized. Before being injected into the shoe's midsole, the water was blessed by a priest and colored to enhance visibility. The shoes also come with several other nods to the Holy Bible and The Vatican.
The shoes also reference the Bible verse Matthew 14:25- which mentions Jesus walking on water- on the side. The tongue bears a blood drop, representing the blood of Christ. The laces are strewn with a crucifix. The frankincense-scented insoles are colored red, referencing red papal shoes worn by past Popes. Frankincense was among the gifts the wise men brought to Jesus when he was born.
The 'Jesus Shoes' are packaged in a cream and red-colored box, which bears the Bible verse Matthew 14:25. The box also displays the image of an angel, with the text 'Walk on Water', and a seal that resembles the official papal seal.
Interestingly, the shoes have nothing to do with Nike. MSCHF purchased the shoes from Nike at retail price and customized them to make about two dozen of the limited-edition 'Jesus Shoes'. The shoes originally retailed at $1,425, another nod to Matthew 14:25, and are currently reselling at $3,000 and up on the StockX marketplace. Some pairs even demand eight times the original retail price.
However, the 'Jesus Shoes' are not so much about a collab as they are a statement on how "absurd" collab culture has gotten, MSCHF said. The head of commerce at MSCHF, 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."
Hence, MSCHF chose to model their collab after Christ- "one of the most influential figures in history." Greenberg said, as a Jew, all he knew about Christ was that he walked on water. Notably, he procured water from River Jordan through a friend in Israel.
According to MSCHF, the website comes up with new products every second and fourth Tuesday at 11 am EST. Last month, the company designed a website that converts Wikipedia entries into research articles. In the past, MSCHF is also known to have created the font 'Times Newer Roman', 10% longer than Times New Roman with only imperceptible differences.
