South Africans are paying R7,000 for what looks awfully like R1,500 medical boots

Mschf AC1 (MSCHF Instagram)

• South Africans are forking out R7,000 for shoes that are hard to distinguish from medical boots.
• If you want the medical version, Dis-Chem will sell you one for R1,510.
• Shelflife Store stocked the shoes, from a US-based sneaker retailer known for releasing the Nike “Satan shoes” with human blood in them last year.
• Social media was shocked, but Shelflife says the shoes are selling.
• For more stories, go to www.BusinessInsider.co.za.

South Africans are buying shoes that look remarkably like orthopaedic boots, but with a price tag of R7,000 rather than the R3,000 they could pay for the medical version – which is sold individually, because most people only need one at a time.

The boots, called the Mschf AC.1, were listed on Instagram by Shelflife Store, a streetwear retailer in Cape Town and Johannesburg, for R6,999. The retailer confirmed that locals are in fact buying from their limited stock.

Mschf AC1 posted on Shelflife’s Instagram page (Shelflife Store)

Typically, boots that are constructed in a similar fashion are used to protect fractured bones, or to provide support after other injuries to the lower leg, ankle, or foot, so helping the affected area to heal. One of these will typically set you back between R1,119.95 and R1,510.95 at Dis-Chem.

Dis-Chem Ankle Walker With Air Pump (Dis-Chem)

Dis-Chem Orthofit Foam Walker (Dis-Chem)

But, according to MSCHF, a street fashion brand in the USA, from which Shelflife procured its stock, “injury is in. Health is out”, and customers can now “look broken while still being whole.”

The shoes are made of water-resistant neoprene sock, offer a dual-airbag ankle support system, and consist of flexible moulded construction.

“We’ve collectively aestheticized glasses, but the trend of functional medical accessories making the leap to fashion seems to have lagged.”

“No longer. Let’s push the envelope on what footwear is; Footwear should be anything that you wear on your feet,” said the company.

Tapping into the medical industry for fashion is no surprise for MSCHF as the retailer is known to be an industry disrupter when it comes to shoes and fashion in general.

Last year, MSCHF released the controversial Lil Nas X-inspired “Satan” Air Max 97s, known as Satan shoes, the famous Nike shoes injected with real human blood in the Air bubble midsole.

Nike denied involvement with the product. It then pursued legal action against MSCHF for trademark infringement, dilution, false origin designation, and unfair competition.

Local South Africans were jaw-dropped to see the shoes on Shelflife Store’s Instagram page, with many expressing how disappointed they would be in anyone who would buy them.

“Definitely judging everyone that buys this,” wrote one user.

“Must be a mistake, these boots are meant to be donated to ICU, plus they sell them one one, can’t be a pair,” another user commented.

(Instagram)