Nailed it or failed it? Diplo took a fashion risk in a pair of boots that are taking over the internet.
The DJ, 44, attended the Brooklyn Nets vs. the New York Knicks game at Madison Square Garden on Monday, February 13, wearing MSCHF’s Big Red Boots. The footwear, which went viral on TikTok earlier this month, feature an animated-like design and an oversized silhouette. The shoes are finished with a round toe and a protruding overlap at the top.
The musician, whose real name is Thomas Wesley Pentz, paired the boots with black leggings, shorts, a leather letterman jacket and a graphic T-shirt. The “Elastic Heart” artist accessorized with a metallic necklace and dark sunglasses. His platinum blonde tresses stood out against the ensemble.
Diplo’s getup became a trending topic with fans sharing their honest opinions on how he styled the shoes. “Diplo wore the boots the best so far because he didn’t wear all that extra s—t. Let the boots talk y’all,” one fan wrote. A second tweet read: “I wish these people would stop trying to make these ugly boots happen.”
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In addition to Diplo, the waders have been worn by Lil Wayne, Janelle Monáe, rapper Coi Leray and influencer Wisdom Kaye.
Monáe, 37, showed off the stomps via Twitter on Friday, February 10. In the photo, the “Yoga” artist is seen wearing the boots with a red and blue basketball as she dribbled a basketball.
The shoes leaked on social media on February 6 and won’t be available for purchase until Thursday, February 16, for $350.
MSCHF cofounder Daniel Greenberg opened up about the design, telling Highsnobiety in an interview published on Wednesday, February 15, that the boots are a “realization of a specific sort of cartoonish abstraction of a shoe.”
He continued: “In cartoon world, representation works with reduced information to immediately imply an object, rather literally depict it. The Big Red Boot works on a similar principle, where it is absurd, implied form that conveys the idea of ‘BOOT’ without worrying too much about the particulars of realism.”
Greenberg added: “From a technical perspective, the BRB pushes the envelope of its single-mold-shell design, simply because it is really large … It’s shot in a much higher quality material and process than, say, a rain boot, or other thin-walled low-cost boots.”
Making the style even more intriguing, they are actually considered reimagined sneakers.