Nike and MSCHF have agreed to settle a lawsuit over “Satan Shoes” — MSCHF’s customized pair of Air Max 97s created in collaboration with Lil Nas X.
Nike had nothing to do with the Satan Shoes, and as a result, filed a lawsuit against MSCHF for trademark infringement and dilution, false designation of origin, and unfair competition.
666 pairs of the Satan Shoes were created which incorporated drops of MSCHF’s employees’ blood and ink into the air bubble in the Nike Air Max 97s. The shoes sold out in less than a minute last month and all, but one pair was shipped to buyers.
Nike asked MSCHF to initiate a voluntary recall of the shoes and buy back all 665 pairs of the 666 that were bought and shipped for a retail price of $1,018.
This isn’t the first time MSCHF customized Nike Air Max 97s, in fact, two years ago MSCHF released “Jesus Shoes” which featured water sourced from the River Jordan that sold for $1,425. These shoes can also be sold for a refund.
The only problem is why would customers who bought either shoe sell it back to MSCHF when the price for both pairs has only increased in value due to the lawsuit?
Now that Nike can move past this lawsuit, they are being called out by the USPS for using intellectual property in an upcoming drop of the popular Nike Air Force 1.
For this iteration of the Air Force 1, Nike uses the same color scheme featured on USPS priority mail packages and there is also a shipping label on the heel of the shoe that looks similar to a USPS label.
It seems brands feel it is better to ask for permission rather than forgiveness. Nike has not issued a statement just yet, but it’ll be interesting to see how they respond to this, given the brand was just in a comparable situation.
