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Brooklyn Student Celebrates 'Kimye' With Playing Cards

By Serena Dai | May 26, 2015 2:12pm
 Brooklyn student Jake Schiappacasse turned the Kardashian Wests into playing cards.   
Kimye Playing Kards
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BROOKLYN — Pop culture royalty never looked so bodacious.

Pratt Institute student Jake Schiappacasse took an assignment to create playing cards and made a set celebrating the Kardashian-West family.

Kim Kardashian West, in a baroque-style outfit, represents the queen of the deck. Kanye West appears with a crown and scepter when a player draws a king.

And baby North, with her signature look of slight confusion, is on all the Jack cards, wearing a  puffy skirt.

"They're seen as these divine figures in our contemporary society," Schiappacasse said. "It's interesting. Pairing that with the baroque style of artwork that Kanye's really into — it's about a time when kings and queens were seen in divine ways."

The 21-year-old junior launched a Kickstarter to make the cards, which had made $40 of its $8,300 goal by Tuesday afternoon, but admitted that he didn't try hard this time around to attract fans and buyers.

He plans to relaunch the Kimye Playing Cards Kickstarter later in June "with a little bit more enthusiasm," he said.

Schiappacasse, who started out as a fan of Kanye West and his music, said he was initially "horrified" when the rapper started dating Kim Kardashian, a reality television star who's been widely criticized as being famous for no reason.

But eventually, Schiappacasse got on board with the pairing. He said he's even in awe of the "elegance" and "class" that Kim Kardashian has been able to drum up in her continuing rise in fame.

It's "fascinating" that she's been able to become a household name, he said.

"I wouldn’t say I’m obsessed with Kim Kardashian," Schiappacasse said. "But I’m really into the mass following she’s got, and this whole notion of celebrity worship."

The student plans to look into production costs for the cards and try pricing them at between $10 and $15 a pack, he said.

He hasn't asked the couple whether he can use their image, but he's not worried about any legal issues, he said.

He mostly just wants to make a "cool" product with three of the most "fascinating" people in culture today, he said.

"It's crazy, the amount of attention they get and the influence they have on people," Schiappacasse said. "I love to hear people bashing them — Kim, she's this, she's that. But you're still speaking about her. Whether you like it or not, she's a figure in your life."