Nike’s chicken and waffles sneakers are the latest to use food for kicks

Have you seen Nike’s new chicken and waffles sneakers?

Nike calls them “soul food for your feet.”

BET has declared that the quirky kicks, which debuted over the weekend, “look good enough to eat.”

The Nike SB Dunk High Premium “Waffle” is made from a waffled canvas material, and the trademark Nike swoosh looks like it’s dripping with syrup. The insoles are decorated with chicken and waffles artwork.

“The only thing that could make them better would be if they smelled like butter,” said BET.

Shoe companies have cooked up a lot of food-themed footwear in recent years, serving up culinary kicks including sneakers decorated with cheeseburgers, fries and other drive-thru staples.

Last month Puma released an XT-2 sneaker dubbed “Pizza and Burgers” that is laser-etched with — what else? — pizza and burgers.

New Balance and J. Crew’s new “Butterscotch” 997 of suede and leather in creamy beige and brown tones is inspired by “grandpa’s tastiest candy,” according to its creators.

Sandals that look like a fruit salad? It’s been done.

Wedge booties with a ring pop print? Done.

Good luck trying to find that popular Kate Spade shoe with a 5-inch heel that looks like a waffle cone. Sold out.

British clothing company Ted Baker paid homage to food’s inspiration on fashion with a food-themed ad campaign featuring boat shoes plated on fries and women’s flats served like luscious desserts.

Foodies want to be fashionable, too, declared women’s magazine Bustle last year when it spotlighted nine quirky food-inspired shoes.

“Fashionable foodies rejoice! You can now show your love of food by wearing food inspired shoes! Finally! Our love of food is now playing a big part in the fashion and beauty worlds, with huge design houses embracing food-inspired clothing,” Bustle wrote.

Since the early 2000s the sneaker game in particular “has been packed with kicks inspired by everything from lobsters to Newcastle Brown — some more successful than others, but all manna for sneakerheads who love to eat and drink,” wrote foodie website First We Feast.

Beer and sneakers have been a particularly popular pairing. Nike, Reebok, Pro-Keds, Saucony, Supra and Adidas have all created sneakers inspired by beers.

Reebok even imagined what a beer pong sneaker would look like and issued it in 2012.

A new line this year from California-based Vans, called Late Night, has a fast-food theme. Shoes in the collection are decorated with images of hamburgers, doughnuts and French fries.

In 2012 Vans drew inspiration from The Meatball Shop in Brooklyn and created a sneaker covered with a yummy print.

Converse made mouths water two years ago with its “Food Pack” collection of Chuck Taylor All Stars decorated with prints of pizza, burgers, donuts and cupcakes.

Also that year it released a limited edition Chuck Taylor featuring Andy Warhol’s iconic pop art version of the Campbell’s tomato soup can.

The chicken-and-waffle Nikes are not the company’s first foray into food footwear. Last year the “Sweet Schemes” sneakers for women were designed to look like desserts from different cities around the world: New York City cheesecake, Harajuku crepe from Tokyo.

Some people have taken the food-inspired trend very literally. Just for kicks.

Internet vlogger NameBranClothing apparently didn’t get the memo that says shoes belong on the feet and not in the deep-fat fryer.

Last month he coated a pair of $200 Kanye West-designed Yeezy Boost 350s with batter — and threw those suckers in hot oil.

“Honestly, I feel like it’s going to be really, really dope to have a deep-fried pair of Yeezys on my shelf in my room in the background of my videos,” he said.

“I feel like that's so much doper to me than wearing them on my feet.”

This story was originally published April 6, 2016 at 1:49 PM with the headline "Nike’s chicken and waffles sneakers are the latest to use food for kicks."