Liberace Museum sells shoes inspired by 'King of Bling'

Footwear features glitter, patterns

dale dombrowski/viewSneakers by a company called Kashi Kicks, which were inspired by several of Liberace?s costumes, are now on sale at the Liberace Museum Gift Shop, 1775 E. Tropicana Ave. and soon will be available worldwide. Some of the proceeds from the sale of the sneakers will benefit the Liberace Foundation. Advertisement

Liberace was known as many things in his life, but subtle wasn't one of them. When he passed away in 1987, he left at least three great legacies behind -- his music, his museum and The Liberace Foundation. Now, we can add "footwear inspiration" to that list.

Alan Kashi was in Las Vegas attending the bi-annual fashion industry trade show MAGIC last year, when he visited the Liberace Museum and saw the incredible costumes. This trip motivated Kashi to create a line of Liberace-inspired shoes.

The line, Kashi Kicks Liberace Collection or Liberace Kicks for short, includes six designs inspired by specific costumes in the museum.

"They (the shoes) sure are something," said Amy Malicki, a tourist visiting from Ohio on Jan. 6. "They're not for me, but I've got a friend back home who'll love them, I can't wait to tell her about them."

The shoes will be sold worldwide, but currently the Liberace Museum is the only place to get them locally. They're in distribution all over Europe.

"The crossover to the hip-hop community and the athletic community and the fashion design community has been wonderful for us," said Darin Hollingsworth, executive director of the Liberace Foundation. "The shoes are really getting a lot of attention in areas that we couldn't necessarily have planned for, but which we're extremely grateful for."

The shoes are covered with patterns, glitter and piano key designs. One pair, inspired by a costume made of real monkey fur, is even fuzzy. The museum and foundation have a finely developed sense of the absurd, embracing, rather than disavowing, the kitsch image of the master showman. They've even registered the trademark phrase "King of Bling."

The $99 shoes have been on display just a few months and already half of the museum's supply has sold.

Although the shoes might seem silly to some, the foundation they help support is a serious cause. The Liberace Foundation was founded in 1976 to help talented students pursue careers in the performing and creative arts through scholarship assistance.

"All of what we do here at the museum and our licensing initiatives are targeted at the ultimate goal of keeping this legacy alive," Hollingsworth said. "Both the iconic showmanship material that we have at this museum and the scholarship and grant legacy."

To date, the foundation has awarded over $5 million in scholarships to almost 2,500 students. Funding for the foundation comes from the museum and other creative sources, such as the licensing agreements with companies like Kashi Kicks. A portion of the proceeds from every sale goes to the foundation. For more information about the museum and the foundation, visit www.liberace.org.