BTS fans in Singapore finally got a taste of the BTS Meal when it arrived at our local McDonald’s outlets on Monday (21 June), and whether you’re all-out ARMY, planning to sell them on Carousell to make a quick buck, or still rolling your eyes, we can all agree on one thing: the purple BTS-branded packaging is hot property.
Just purple paper you say? Wait till you see the upcycled smartphone covers, sauce lid keychains, and “borahae” shrines created by k-pop stans in order to preserve their limited-edition meals, though none come close to the level of creativity we’re seeing here — custom ‘BTS Meal’ sneakers that are seriously, well, dope.
Local fashion stylist and creative Josiah Chua has converted the Chicken McNuggets box, drink cup and sauce tubs into a pair of sneakers that has garnered major street cred since they debuted on Tuesday (22 June). Those stylish kicks have been featured on Hypebeast Korea and other major media outlets, while we’ve also seen them being reposted countless times on our IG feeds.
In a series of images shot by Jayden Tan, we get to see the D-I-Y sneakers in their full purple glory, along with close-up shots that detail the shoe’s upper, made from panels of the McNuggets box and drink cup, where all the brand logos are lined up in the same direction for a cohesive look.
As fun twists, the mid-cut sneakers also feature the special-edition Cajun and Sweet Chilli sauce tubs attached to their laces, as well as a side pocket where you can store your nuggets for on-the-go sustenance. Or as the song goes: side step, right, left — and dip.
According to Chua, creating the shoes was a purely spontaneous decision. “The BTS x McDonald’s meal had just launched and while we were having it for lunch, we decided spontaneously to just upcycle the packaging into something fun,” he told us. “I’ve been deconstructing sneakers for another project and had leftover soles, so I just thought, why not create a pair of custom BTS x McDonald’s sneakers!”
The project took about four to five hours, from conceptualisation and construction to photographing the end product, and while he had followed a standard shoe pattern for the sneaker design, he described the process as an “intuitive approach”. The hardest part? “The careful construction to not crush or destroy the packaging,” he said. You can get a glimpse of the making-of process in his TikTok video below.
@josiahchua My Custom made BTS Meal sneakers! Josiah Chua x BTS x Macdonalds. Shot by @jdenation #bts #btsmeal #btsmealsneakers
As for the overnight fame and positive comments he has experienced so far, Chua said that “it’s amazing to be featured on various platforms and for many to find joy, or even think it’s a mad, ridiculous idea”.
“The point is really to have fun and not be serious about everything. Something like packaging can be made fun and interesting with a dose of creativity!”
The McDonald’s BTS Meal, $8.90, is available via delivery only from MCDELIVERY, GrabFood and foodpanda.
it consists of a 9-piece chicken mcnuggets set, sweet chilli and cajun sauces, large fries, and a large coke.
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