After an impressive run on “Dancing with the Stars,” Nelly is using his dancing shoes to make a generous contribution to a charity.
Nelly has donated at least 10 pairs of shows to The Teen Project, an organization that strives to offer “healing and hope to young women who have survived human trafficking and homelessness,” and has established “innovating programs focused on drug treatment, psychotherapy, life skills, higher education and mentoring all with a trauma-informed lens.”
The rapper’s footwear will be auctioned off, with the collection expected to fetch at least $50,000, TMZ reported.
Nelly can thank “Shoe Surgeon” Dominic Ciambrone for the conceptualization and creation of the iconic “Playoff” Air Jordan XIs he donned to dance the salsa on Dancing With The Stars.
Ciambrone told Complex that when Nelly contacted him about making dance shoes, he was initially apprehensive.
“I was thinking like, ‘This guy is crazy, he wants dress-shoe Jordans.’ Then I realized I’m crazy too and I can actually make a crazy idea come to life.”
However, Ciambrone was pleased with final result, and Nelly was as well, as he commissioned the designer to make at least two more pairs.
Following his wearing of the first unique pair, he sported Black Cement” Air Jordan IIIs with a modified dancing heel to dance the cha cha, and continued his trailblazing dance shoe display the week after, with “Space Jam” XIs cobbled to have a similar heel.
When asked about some negative comments Nelly garnered about the look of the shoes on social media, Ciambrone said his friend’s assessment of the custom creations always came first.
“I don’t think this shoe looks aesthetically pleasing,” he said. “I know what it looks like. So I understand the comments.
“The negativity is well received. I turned the shoe around in two days. Concept to completion. That’s unheard of. This shoe was truly about functionality and serving a purpose to get my boy’s feet right. He likes sneakers, so we converted them into a high quality dress shoe.”
