Giuseppe Zanotti whipped up blinged-out buckled kicks in honor of the King of Pop’s diamond birthday.
A few years ago, when white tennis sneakers and heritage boots rules the earth, receiving a press release announcing the launch of a $15,000 sneaker accented with 120 black diamonds, 55 rubies, and 2 large silver buckles might have made our palms sweat. In this, the summer of 2018, the summer of crazy, chunky, luxury everything, we respond with a slow and knowing nod of recognition.
The designer of these over-the-top sneakers, Italian luxury god Giuseppe Zanotti, also had good reason to bring them into existence: Michael Jackson. The King of Pop’s 60th birthday would have been yesterday, and his fans and family celebrated with a star-studded charity event in Las Vegas last night. A star-studded charity event needs an auction, an auction at a Michael Jackson party needs an over-the-top fashion item, and Giuseppe specializes in such fare. Plus, the footwear king has history with the pop legend; in addition to creating custom pieces for MJ back in the day, Zanotti designed all the shoes for the artist’s would be “This Is It” tour shortly before Jackson’s death. 100% of proceeds from the auction, which is open to the public and live now, benefit the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation. A pair of black-diamond encrusted sneakers have never had so much reason to exist.
That said, there is only one pair of these sneakers in existence (they are literally dubbed “Number One”), and $15K is no small sum, so Giuseppe Zanotti created another 1,999 pairs for, not exactly the masses, but men who appreciate luxury high-tops and have the commas in their bank accounts to cop them. These versions are bedecked in Swarovski crystals instead of diamonds and come in black, white, and silver. Those shoes will launch in select stores and online at Giuseppe Zanotti and Nieman Marcus in mid-October, just in time for Zanotti fans to construct their own high-end homage to Michael Jackson for Halloween, or just generally take advantage this wonderfully bonkers moment in men’s shoe history.
SOURCE: GQ
