Report: Nike is suing the designer behind Lil Nas X’s Satan shoes

MSCHF sold an unauthorized, Satan-themed edition of the Air Max 97, and Nike is suing for trademark infringement.

March 29, 2021
Report: Nike is suing the designer behind Lil Nas X’s Satan shoes Lil Nas X. Photo by Ashley Buenrostro.  

Nike has reportedly filed a lawsuit against MSCHF, the designer behind Lil Nas X's controversial "Satan shoes," according to a tweet from New York Times reporter Kevin Draper. The shoes are unofficial redesigns of Nike's trademark Air Max 97 design. According to a screencap of the lawsuit posted to Twitter, the filing's complaints include trademark infringement, false designation of origin, trademark dilution, and common law trademark infringement.

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The shoes were announced in conjunction with the release of Lil Nas X's new song and video "MONTERO (CALL ME BY YOUR NAME)." Like the video, which features a scene where Nas X gives Satan a lapdance, the shoes contain similar themes. Sporting a metal pentagram on the laces, the shoes contain human blood in the sole, are sold in an edition of 666, and are embellished with the phrase "Luke 10:18," a reference to the Bible verse reading "He replied, 'I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.'"

Many right-wing and conservative figures were outraged by the shoes and video, including South Dakota governor Kriti Noem, who got on the wrong side of a Twitter beef with Nas X.

The "Satan shoes" are a sequel of sorts to the "Jesus shoes" released by MSCHF in 2019. Like the Lil Nas X collab, they were restyled, bootlegged Air Max 97s, though the Jesus shoes had a blue and white colorway with a metal crucifix attached on the laces. The sole of the shoes contained 60ccs of water taken from the River Jordan.

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The FADER has reached out to MSCHF for more information.

Report: Nike is suing the designer behind Lil Nas X’s Satan shoes