MSCHF’s funny business

MSCHF stands for “miscellaneous mischief” which I incorrectly read as “millennial mischief.” If you ask me, the latter also sounds quite apt seeing as to what Gabriel Whaley aka Gape Whiney (his LinkedIn words, not mine) has been doing since 2017, when MSCHF first came to be. Their first drop was a 2008 Windows laptop banged up with 6 despised viruses, titled “The Persistence of Chaos.” MSCHF practically initiated the popularised use of the word “drop” when they announced their bi-monthly drops. 

MSCHF is a collective of about 20 artists who are there to have fun under the CEO’s umbrella. Gabriel reaches new levels of exaggeration with his experiments and parodies every now and then, and the internet is all for it! First, they designed the “Jesus shoes” in 2019 and anticipated public rejection or a slap from Nike which did not happen. They didn’t back down. They then released, in 2021, the “Satan shoes” in collaboration with Lil Nas X, which was another surprise. Fortunately for them, Nike did sue them this time around for ‘customising’ their Air Max 97s with blood and selling them for $1,018. They made 666 pairs of this holy shoe which were sold out within a minute. 

Their most obnoxious yet somehow convincing trick was the one that involved Andy Warhol’s artworks. The collective first purchased the original work of Andy’s, then designed a robot to replicate said art piece to reproduce a thousand copies. The effort they take to make a hilarious point to prove their nihilism is commendable, really. You purchase a piece labelled possible real copy of ‘fairies’ by Andy Warhol, hoping it’s the original piece but still satisfied knowing that if nothing else, at least you have an original MSCHF artwork under your roof.  

If you’re still not impressed with MSCHF and their tactics, go ahead and check out their website which is a piece of work they deserve 100% credit for. Numerous mocks and taunts at everything in this world- from fonts and classic books to political celebrities and the American flag. My favorite parody that MSCHF pulled off so professionally, you ask? It’s the Birkinstock: Birkenstocks made from destroyed Birkin Bags. Thierry Hermès must be rolling in his grave, which is a ‘mission accomplished’ for Gabriel Whaley and team.