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Prolific sneaker customizer Dominic “The Shoe Surgeon” Ciambrone is capitalizing on DONDA fever with a spiky pair of YEEZY 700s inspired by the weapon-like, bear-fighting Balenciaga jacket Kanye West wore to his Atlanta listening party for the album.
All-black from head to toe (or rather, laces to outsole), the 700s are studded with hefty silver spikes across the upper, latter, medial, and heel. Hits of tonal snakeskin-embossed paneling add extra texture to the already extra shoe.
They’re kicks that — just like their Balenciaga inspiration — scream “look but don’t touch.” It’s a saying that happens to sum up Ye’s public persona, an image he’s been cultivating for years.
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The rapper’s barbed personality became a topic of heated discussion around the time he began voicing support for Donald Trump, whom he eventually met with one-on-one at the White House.
His seemingly never-ending stream of headline-grabbing gaffes (the Twitter rants, his assertion that slavery was a “choice,” even that infamous VMAs moment) have turned him into something of an antihero, a pariah who, at the same time, is an icon to scores of people who see a bit of themselves in his troubled character — or just enjoy being contrarian.
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Endless controversy is no match for the cult of Kanye, though. He’s managed to remain at the top of everyone’s mind (and the tip of everyone’s tongue), despite all the distasteful stuff he’s done. Simply put, Kanye West is untouchable.
Though we doubt Ye made a conscious decision to wear that spiked Balenciaga jacket as an allegorical representation of his public persona, it sure makes for a great story — and ultimately, that’s what he’s all about.
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