A SHOW CALLED KICKS.

STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO SNEAKER CUSTOMIZATION BY MACHE CUSTOMS

While most of you probably found this blog through my custom sneaker videos and tutorials, it’s been a while since I have dipped my toes in that water. Now that football season is back around I am painting shoes again (Sundays I wake up early and paint and watch football alllll day), you’ll surely see some new work - and old work I haven’t shown yet - come out of my corner. But while I have been gone a lot has changed about the sneaker world.

One of the biggest things is the introduction of blog coverage, and when that happened a lot of non-customizers got a lot of attention. Luckily, the one guy who got the most attention is Dan Gamache of Mache Customs. He is a beast with a brush and the blogs have been eating his work up. Complex recently asked him to go through the steps to sneaker customization, and while it’s very beginner-level in its complexity (no pun intended), it’s a great start for anyone wanting to try their hand at this complicated art form. Check it out here.

PARANORMAN X NIKE FOAMPOSITE EXCLUSIVE GIVEAWAY

The Nike Foamposite is the shoe of the year, and collaborative sneaker releases have always been a huge selling point for compelling sneaker designs. An even better selling point is when a release comes with no actual sales; the only way to get the Paranorman Nike Foamposite - with integrated design, glow in the dark soles, and branded detailing on the heel tabs incorporating imagery from the movie - is to win one of just 800 pairs through Nike’s giveaway here.

The campaign involves tweeting @Paranorman one of the weirdest photos your parents ever took of you. Good luck beating mine with the mullet-perm combo in bright blue sailor overalls.

NIKE TOTAL AIR FOAMPOSITE MAX

Taking a pattern adopted by customizers and a style of sneaker adopted as a base favorite, Nike’s newest Foamposite design features a splatter fade much like the Miami nights colorways that have grown popular of late. Black and blue intersect in various collisions across the upper, and the midsole continues the pattern as a silver Swoosh provides contrast. Details soon.

AIR JORDAN I “DAVE WHITE” CUSTOM BY MACHE

Dan of Mache Customs is one customizer who really liked the Dave White Air Jordan design from early this year. In further commemoration, Mache has created another custom sneaker design, this time on Air Jordan I lows with the toe dipped in gold. A white leather base with red stripes around the back mocking White’s style, and stars with black accents across the side set the pair off as arguably his best Dave White homage to date.

(Source: machecustoms.com)

AIR JORDAN XIII “DRAFT DAY” CUSTOM BY MACHE

On a day where I blog all about custom shoes, check out this new one by Mache Customs, who took to a pair of Jordans with his latest custom for San Diego Charger Marcus Gilchrist. Using a monochromatic theme in shades of orange for the toebox of each sneaker, subtly embedded images depicting draft day symbols adds some flair to the already striking black, white, and violet sneakers. The Clemson Tiger color scheme gives the Js a transitional feeling inherent in a draft day appeal for the NFL.

NIKE AIR “SAFARI” PACK 

Nike recently showed off their newest animal-themed sneaker with a less straightforward design. The “Safari” pack exemplifies what can be done with a theme if it is stretched out to a color wide on the palette and paired with a fresh design. The two pairs in the pack both bear black, biege, and charcoal colorways with a black and grey spotted print around the toe, and they both retail for $110 on June 30th.

(Source: sneakernews.com)

FREAKER SNEAKS “END OF AN ERA” CUSTOM JORDAN V LASER X REEBOK ALIFE PUMPS

Sneaker customizer Freaker Sneaks has been in both the sneaker game and the customs game for a long time, and decided he was getting tired of what he was seeing on both fronts. With sneaker collecting devolving to a level of sitting in front of your computer being told what’s hyped and then beasting your way to a pair, the game has turned into a popularity contest where only those with the most hype bait are revered. 

Customs have suffered a similar and related fate; since the trend of sneaker blogs like Nice Kicks picking up only customs based on Lebron 9s, Kobe VIIs, and Foamposites crammed together with South Beach, Galaxy, and NERF themes, the customizing world has turned into one where only those with the strongest hype radar survive.

Freaker got tired of this, and decided to do something unheard of. For years, touching an Air Jordan was all but illegal in sneaker customizing. Until Mizzee and others made it acceptable in the mid 2000s, no one would dare work on Js. A similar feeling is present for any shoes with holy grail status like the alife x Reebok Pumps, which not only feature the neon orange tennis ball felt, but real pumps in the tongues as well.

With both of these pairs on ice, beckoning to never be sold with the never-ending promise of an increased price point if he waited just ten years to sell them, Freaker decided to do the unthinkable and mix two different brands with a tongue swap and midsole color flip. The result is an incredibly inspired and unique pair of sneakers that will surely polarize all sneaker communities, though his response in customizing circles has been very positive thus far. What do you think?

LIGHT UP AIR JORDAN III CUSTOM BY EVOLVED FOOTWEAR

Brandon Laskowski of Evolved Footwear and PaintorThread fame has done it again with his Black/Cement Air Jordan III redesigns featuring red lights in the air bubble. It’s all in the name with Brandon’s brand, as the footwear he creates is certainly evolved, and the artist has invented multiple techniques for custom shoe design.