Esquire USA - 03.2020

“ONE OF A KIND” IS A TERM THAT MIGHT SEEM LESS

powerful in an era when you can buy printed-on-

demand T-shirts declaring your fandom of trucks,

Texas, and Grey’s Anatomy from a Facebook ad. But

when you’re talking about intricately hand-painted

Italian sneakers, created by a collaboration between

a fashion mogul and a hip-hop superstar... well, that’s

something else entirely. The shoes are part of the new

capsule collection from Swae Lee, 50 percent of the

hip-hop duo Rae Sremmurd, and Giuseppe Zanotti,

the founder of the eponymous fashion label with a pen-

chant for bold leather jackets and flashy sneakers.

The shoes just hit stores like Saks Fifth Avenue, and

there’s a lot to see. “What drew me to Swae Lee is his fear-

lessness,” says Zanotti, who gave the musician full artis-

tic license with the limited-edition line. That’s why Lee’s

favorite color, pink, keeps showing up, whether in hand-

painted floral designs or as the canvas for a pair of boots.

To be clear: These are not for the faint of heart. But

neither are those shirts listing your hobbies and home

state. After all, who cares if it’s one of a kind if it’s not

actually cool, too?

34

THE SHORT STORIES

SOLE GLOW

PHOTOGRAPH BY JEFFREY WESTBROOK COYOACÁN BLUE WALLPAPER/MURALSWALLPAPER.COM (BACKGROUND)

SNEAKERS ($995) BY GIUSEPPE FOR SWAE LEE.

“BUSIN

E

SS W

A S A W A Y F

OR

ME

N

TO T

A

LK

A

BOUT TH

E

IR

FEE

LINGS.”

CONTEXT-FREE QUOTE FROM A BOOK WE LOVE

—ANNA WIENER,^

UNCANNY VALLEY

(OUT NOW)

A Sneaker for the Fearless

Giuseppe Zanotti and Swae Lee’s NEW COLLAB IS BIG, BOLD, and utterly unique

by DANIEL DUMAS