On May 22nd, Kanye West strode out of a Balenciaga fashion show and into meme history. Sporting a pair of large black boots, the rapper showed the avenues of New York City what fashion really looks like and presented an unmissable Photoshop opportunity.

In the following days, Kanye's Big Balenciaga Boots rapidly became an exploitable meme format with tons of media coverage and discussions. In case you're still lost, here's a quick explainer on what happened with Kanye's latest memeable moment.

What are "Kanye's Big Balenciaga Boots?"

Kanye has made a name for himself as both a musician and a designer over the years. He has a partnership with fashion firm Balenciaga, and the “steroid boots” he wore to Balenziaga's show at the New York Stock Exchange (and was photographed in) are from the upcoming 2023 line. Fun fact, they’re also OSHA-certified workboots.

Where do Kanye West’s big boots come from?

Balenciaga, but the meme phenomenon came from a series of photos taken by Getty Images and released by Vogue on May 22nd, 2022 (possibly coordinated to promote Balenciaga … who knows, you can never be sure how “organic” a meme is nowadays). Twitter user @dondatimes posted one of these photographs, captioning it, "Kanye just went to another level of boots," and gained over 118,000 likes and 7,500 retweets in five days.

A version of the photograph with the boots altered to look even larger than they actually were appeared on May 23rd, posted by Twitter user @Zakpaonessa, which gained over 900 likes in four days. Forthwith, a race to enlarge the boots started, with Twitter user @lungdarts666 popping off in the replies with even bigger boots on Kanye and then original poster @Zakpaoness commenting again with another photoshop increasing the boots' size even further.

These boot Photoshop edits went on to stomp across social media. On May 23rd, one of these photoshops was shared by Twitter user @yourgirl_ajex, gaining over 52,000 likes in four days, and a day later, Twitter user @luhblix shared one of the images that accumulated over 435,000 likes and 28,000 retweets in three days. Below, you can watch the photoshopping duel progress (left to right).

How were Kanye's boots used in memes?

Memes about Kanye’s boots tend to be appreciative, marveling at their size and formidability. Some have placed Kanye and the boots in unusual situations.

The rapper’s boot choice led many to compare him to SpongeBob SquarePants, who also famously wore some big black boots.

Does Kanye wear other boots?

Kanye has worn many kinds of boots, most recently Croc boots and black Red Wing style 3049 Men's 17 inch Pac boots.

How much do Kanye's boots cost?

Apparently, upwards of $30,000.

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For the full history of Kanye's Big Black Balenciaga Boots, be sure to check out our entry here for even more information.