It’s pretty remarkable that, 20 years on, people are still into SpongeBob SquarePants in a way that translates into fashion collaborations. That’s two decades of a Nickelodeon cartoon that’s spawned movies, video games and a lot of apparel over the years. Few shows are on the air that long, let alone with enough appeal to stay in mainstream culture in a real way. But SpongeBob remains relevant. He even showed up at the Super Bowl in February, remember?
And all that hype has spawned some interesting fashion projects two decades down the road. Nike, for example, let Kyrie Irving come up with a set of SpongeBob colorways for his Kyrie 5 signature shoe, all of which look spectacular and were a hit with consumers.
The latest fashion collab between a pineapple-dwelling sea sponge and footwear brands is a pair of Timberland boots for all ages that feature SpongeBob, Patrick and Co. with some really fun touches from the show. The pair of SpongeBob x Timberland boots went on sale Friday and include toddler, youth and adult versions of a pair of boots full of nautical nonsense.
A white version of the laces has touches of the red and blue striped socks SpongeBob wears, while the black laces simply say his name over and over again. Other touches from the show include the Timberland logo on the side made up to look like the signature meal of the Krusty Krab. The blue boots feature a jellyfishing SpongeBob, while the black are a bit more subtle (other than SpongeBob’s face on the tongue. One fun note on those black boots is Plankton chasing after the Timberland Krabby Patty, which rules.
Young people and adults alike are still watching the show, so this certainly makes sense to make a boot for all ages. And the boots do look pretty good. The black pair looks a bit more… ordinary, while the jellyfish blue pair certainly make more of a bold statement.
It’s tough to rank two shoes, so we won’t do that. But one pair is clearly more… extra… than the other, so how adventurous you want to get with your public affection for SpongeBob will likely determine which pair you choose here.