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by Brandon Richard
Kanye West debuted the Nike Air Yeezy 2 on-foot during a cameo appearance in Kobe Bryant's 2011 Nike short film Kobe Bryant Is...The Black Mamba. A more official public wearing took place at the MTV Video Music Awards a few months later, but was he actually supposed to debut them at the 2010 show? According to one sneaker collector, that is indeed the case.
After sharing a few teaser shots on his personal Instagram page, Mike Air (@iammikeair) stopped by RIF Los Angeles with what he says is a 1-of-1 sample pair of Yeezy 2s that were made for Kanye to wear at the VMAs in 2010. The wild shoe, which rests in its own custom wooden box, is constructed with chocolate brown croc leather and features a fur-lined interior. There were clearly some refinements made to the design and overall shape of the shoe before it officially hit retail a few years later.
Furthermore, the samples are marked with special 1-of-1 QR tags on the back of the tongues that make mention of "MTVVMA10," adding more credibility to the story.
If things were to have went down as planned, the Yeezy 2 story begins much sooner and maybe Kanye doesn't put together his iconic red outfit with Louis Vuitton Dons, which really enhanced the visual aesthetic of arguably his greatest live performance. Mike Air didn't reveal exactly why the shoe were never worn, but RIF LA did hash tag #PETAwiththeblock on one photo, possibly hinting on some behind-the-scenes politics. That would certainly add some context to his Cold (Theraflu) hook.
We don't have confirmation on this sample from Nike, but it does make for a hell of a story and discussion piece.
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