We here at Nerdist have brought you many instances of weird and funky shoes over the years. But we have maybe found the most truly “out there” piece of footwear yet. Thanks to the folks over at Kotaku, our eyes have seen the glory that is this pair of shoes from designer Walter Van Beirendonck. To create these puppies for the Concrete Store in Amsterdam, he’s teamed up with Japanese company Fools-Inc.
If you want this pair for yourself, they’ll only set you back a mere $977. These shoes are actually a new version of Van Beirendonck’s existing, $815 Cloud sneaker. But we think the extra spikes warrant the $162 dollars, don’t you? Also, these are now a heavenly white hue, while the Cloud sneaker’s bright yellow was a little too Big Bird for our taste.
Concrete Store
Upon first glance, the shoe seems like something seems like something one picks up to score points in an old 8-bit video game. To complete the fantasy, one can rock the shoes while walking down the street listening to some Chiptune music on their earbuds. But they also look like something real life humans would have worn to a rave in the ’90s. Bubbles and spikes on clothing were all the rage back then.
Actually, Van Beirendonck’s entire fashion line has a very ’90s rave aesthetic. Or, as he says in the description, his clothing “expresses various seemingly contradictory ways of resisting the outcome of our set human course.” Case in point, this jacket below. At least the Apocalypse will be a festive one, right?
Of course, given their not-so-small cost, you might just want to treat these shoes as museum pieces and never wear them. Just put them up in a glass case next to your rare Japanese toy robots and your vintage Mario memorabilia. We know they’d fit right in.
Featured Image: Concrete Store