Super Bowl LVI is currently underway and if you catch a glimpse of Odell Beckham Jr.’s cleats during the big game, you’ll see that they’re completely custom.
They’re also worth $200,000.
via People:
The Rams wide receiver, 29, walked out and warmed up in the history-making shoes that, thanks to the shoes’ gold and diamond trimming, are the most expensive ever to be worn for the NFL’s big game.
The bespoke cleats were the brainchild of OBJ and legendary custom footwear designer Dominic Ciambrone, aka The Shoe Surgeon, who spoke to PEOPLE ahead of the game about crafting the cleats that cost about the same as a condo.
“It’s not about making the most expensive cleat,” Ciambrone, 35, tells PEOPLE. “Odell’s not only a top player, but he’s a big personality and he likes fashion and he likes to stand out and that’s what I like. So it just kind of all came together.”
And the cleats certainly stand out as much as the NFL icon with his pair being crafted from royal blue and yellow python to embrace the classic Rams colors.
To make sure the shoes really shine, they feature 1,494 individual round, brilliant white diamonds with a total weight of 25 carats from saught after jeweler, Jason of Beverly Hills. And these are not just any diamonds, but all are flawless D color clarity.
However, the wide receiver and celebrities’ go-to cobbler wasn’t done there, as the cleats also incorporate 150 grams of 14 karat yellow gold.
Ciambrone tells PEOPLE, these cleats have been in the works for much longer than just the 100-plus man-hours it took to construct them.
The player and the designer have long imagined OBJ walking out in gold and diamond cleats and finally, after overcoming injury and now heading to the Super Bowl, it was time.
“When they won the last game, I texted them right away. I was like, ‘Are you ready for the golden diamond?'” Ciambrone says. “And he was just hyped and was like ‘Yep, you, me and Jason of Beverly Hills,’ who makes the diamond rings for a lot of the teams and the NFL rings last year. So it was just cool that the moment came like this.”
While many celebrities and players who wear Ciambrone’s creations leave the design elements to The Shoe Surgeon, the designer tells PEOPLE that OBJ was very involved in crafting his Super Bowl footwear.
“Odell is very collaborative. And he really knows, what he likes and what he doesn’t like. So we can go back and forth,” Ciambrone says. “We’ve been back and forth and text messages and phone calls and sending photos of like, ‘What are you thinking about this?’ ‘What do you think about that?’, then going down the path like, ‘Nope, not that.’ Even this weekend, he’s like, ‘It has to be perfect. It’s the biggest game of the sport.’ “
While Ciambrone is known for how he transforms sneakers through customization and repurposing other designer and luxury goods, he has been producing cleats professionally at the request of the world’s top athletes for six years.
But, unlike sneakers, customizing cleats requires a very different approach.
“It’s a whole different process and it’s not an easy process. These cleats that we’re making right now, it’s very specific, you can’t really teach someone how to do this. It’s tough, but it’s rewarding because it’s just so cool to see them actually played in a game,” Ciambrone tells PEOPLE. “It’s really about maintaining the integrity of the cleat because it’s a performance cleat or shoe. So I never want to take away from the performance.””For these cleats, especially at the highest level, or basketball shoe, whatever we make, I need to really keep that in mind. Because my main goal is that the player wins, like, I want my art to be on a winning shoe,” he explains.
Ahead of Beckham Jr. taking to the field to warm up in his custom cleats, Ciambrone was not as nervous as you would think considering there is essentially a jewelry store running around the field. Instead, he tells PEOPLE, he is so grateful.
“I’m not gonna be nervous, I’m gonna take a moment where I just stop and shut everything off and just take a moment with whoever I’m with, and around before the game and in silence and just share gratitude and how amazing this moment is for the players and, you know, everyone involved,” he says.
OBJ isn’t the only one to tap Ciambrone to ensure they make this the most stylish Super Bowl yet. Teammates Jalen Ramsey, Cooper Kupp, and Von Miller are also wearing customized creations.
Miller, Ramsey, and Kupp’s cleats represent their personalities in different ways and the men will be proudly wearing theirs during the actual game.
Ramsey had three pairs created: a reflective chrome cleat inspired by the Lombardi trophy, a bejeweled pair with a matching helmet, which is a collaboration between The Shoe Surgeon and The Dan Life, and a pair with a Valentine’s Day theme that is dedicated to the corner back’s daughters with their names –– Breelyn, Brooklyn, and Joonie –– painted alongside embroidered leather heart patches.
Kupp is playing in his first-ever Shoe Surgeon cleat that reflects his passion for streetwear and the artist KAWS with a limited edition Comme des Garçons X KAWS shirt being repurposed for the in-game footwear.
He and OBJ also both have a matching pair that are Off-White inspired dunk cleats featuring a double-lace fastening system in the Rams colorway. Miller’s cleats, meanwhile, are inspired by Crazy 1 Kobe sneakers.
Ciambrone says the opportunity to be involved in the biggest day of these players’ lives is an honor.
“It’s such an unbelievable experience to see someone, a player, see my art in my craft, and be able to wear it in a game,” he shares.
Is it excessive? Absolutely.
However, as much money as the NFL makes off of Odell’s back (and other players’) he deserves to drip in diamonds on the field if he so chooses.
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