Justin Bieber is not about to say sorry for his fashion choices. The “Baby” singer shared on his Instagram Story on Wednesday, March 27, that he was stopped by a police officer who mistook the zip-tie on his Off-White X Nike Air Max 90 designer sneakers for a security tag.
“Virgil, my god, bro. You freaking — you’re killing me, man,” Bieber joked in his Story, referring to Off-White designer Virgil Abloh. “I just had a cop come up to me and ask me why I still had the security tag on my shoe. What the…”
The limited-edition $160 sneakers launched in January as part of the Abloh’s buzzed-about collab with Nike and sold out pretty much immediately. The coveted kicks are currently available on the re-sale market for upwards of $600, and the khaki-colored style features an orange Nike swoosh and Off-White’s signature plastic tag on the laces.
“I had to tell him, ‘Bro, it’s just fashion,” Bieber explained of his conversation with law enforcement. “I don’t know. He’s like, ‘It sure looks like a security tag.’”
The 25-year-old newlywed did admit that the logo-less accouterment did bear a resemble to the common security feature, but he explained to the officer it was part of the design and told him to “check it out.”
“You’re getting me in trouble,” Bieber quipped to Abloh of the confusion.
A budding fashion designer in his own right, the Grammy-winner paired the trendy footwear with the $148 Rick Corduroy Pants from his House of Drew collection. While the entire line is currently sold out, it features t-shirts, sweat suits, hats and more that he and wife Hailey Bieber have been wearing all over town for months.
While it seems as though the confusion over the sneakers was ultimately cleared up, we wonder if the incident will mean we’ll be seeing the crooner resurrect his other controversial footwear of choice – hotel slippers.
