For most of the Latinternet, the botas picudas craze peaked in 2011. Back then, tribal guarachero was blowing up, aided by Erick Rincon and 3Ball MTY, who took the sound from Monterrey subculture to the mainstream on the strength of their catchy mix of pre-Hispanic rhythms, cumbia, and throbbing house beats.
As tribal’s profile rose, so did the hype around botas picudas, the improbably long pointy boots sported by tribal guarachero dancers during dance battles. We even got a few pairs of our own so we could stage our own dance battles at 2012’s LAMC.
And then David Guetta put the boots in a music video, at which point we left the trend for dead and moved on.
Which is why we were a little caught off guard when Commes des Garçon, the Japanese label and fashion favorite, sent some tribal guarachero boots down the runway last summer as part of their Spring/Summer ’15 show. As of last week, the boots are now available via Ssense at a hefty $515 price tag.
I dunno guys. Usually, the Japanese are pretty next level futuristic when it comes to fashion, but it seems like the Mexican inspirations take their sweet time getting over there (remember the Japanese cholo trend?).
Then again, as the internet continues to shorten our nostalgia cycles, maybe a three year break from the botas picudas was all we needed.
$515 botas picudas, though…probably something we didn’t need.