MSCHF and Tyga’s “Wavy Baby” shoe hasn’t even dropped yet and it’s already the subject of a potential lawsuit from Vans.
Revealed on April 6 and set to release on April 18, MSCHF Sneakers’ “Wavy Baby” skate shoe was created with Tyga in mind — the rapper premiered the shoes in his “Freaky Deaky” music video weeks ahead of the general announcement and pals like J Balvin swiftly received their own pair.
Not hard to see the appeal, either. The Wavy Baby, with its uniquely warped sole, is unlike any sneaker anyone’s ever seen before.
Yes, the Wavy Baby does smack of skate shoes that came before, what with that canvas upper, wiggly white stripe, and black-on-white foxing, but that’s partially the point of what MSCHF Sneakers does (more on that later).
For now, let’s be clear: MSCHF’s Wavy Baby is a wholly original design.
In late March, MSCHF told Highsnobiety about the painstaking production process necessary to create the MSCHF Sneakers line, explaining that every shoe that it creates is built from scratch.
With this in mind, you can better appreciate the typically sardonic tone that informs the statement that MSCHF published on April 14 about its Vans lawsuit.
“Vans reached out to settle with us proactively,” MSCHF said. “Turns out that they were shaking our hand at the same time they were stabbing us in the back.”
“To have the [Wavy Baby] drop go live [on April 18], they offered specific terms (as recently as 24 hours ago) asking for, among other things, half the profits and also four pairs of shoes for themselves. They also indicated they were willing to meet about future collaborations LMAO.”
Suffice to say, MSCHF is feeling just a smidge jaded.
The first MSCHF Sneakers silhouette, the TAP3, was an obvious nod to the metaphorical red tape that obscured MSCHF and Lil Nas X’s Satan Shoe back in 2021, making clear that MSCHF Sneakers is as anti-establishmentarian as anything else that MSCHF does.
MSCHF Sneakers is also rooted in a genuine love for footwear: MSCHF’s creative team loves the medium and the possibility that it offers. Thus, MSCHF Sneakers was devised as a middle finger to the laziness of the footwear industry.
“The sneaker landscape is so incredibly stale,” MSCHF told Highsnobiety back in March. “If we were going to collaborate with a sneaker brand, they’d have to break open a new mold: we’re not just doing a MSCHF colorway.”
Everything that’s boring about the sneaker biz — slapdash collabs, boring colorways, copy-pasted logos — is what MSCHF Sneakers isn’t. By riffing on familiar shapes from established sneaker giants, MSCHF Sneakers can make its point that much faster.
MSCHF would not offer further comment on its Vans court case beyond the initial statement but, really, the statement says plenty.
“Standard shoe industry practice is: steal a sole, steal an upper, change a symbol,” MSCHF continued. What a boring use of cultural material. Wavy Baby is a complete distortion of an entire object that is itself a symbol.”
“Vans is a hidebound institution hiding behind its past heritage as a ‘creative youth brand.’ In 50 years of sneaker releases, never have any of their shoes gotten this much attention pre-release. The Wavy Baby is transformational above and beyond anything Vans would ever attempt. “
In no uncertain terms, MSCHF’s statement is a worthy manifesto for MSCHF Sneakers — and perhaps MSCHF — as a whole.
“Fundamentally, artists play with culture. Sampling is a core act of creative expression, and a constant iterative process across the entire fashion space.”
As far as can be presumed, MSCHF is currently planning to go ahead with the Wavy Baby drop on April 18.
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