A SHOW CALLED KICKS.

NIKE AIR FORCE 180 “THE ADMIRAL” CUSTOM BY REVIVE CUSTOMS

Sometimes a custom job serves no better purpose than to repurpose an OG sneaker that has lost its luster, but sometimes a beaten-up base can serve as the inspiration for something beautiful. Perhaps drawing courage from the fact that the sneakers were all but destroyed to start, long-time sneaker customizer Revive Customs took an old pair of Nike Air Force 180 highs and transferred a theme reminiscent of the Air Jordan VI “Olympic” sneakers with inspiration from teammate David “The Admiral” Robinson. The shoes come out looking like they should be sold in a pack with the AJ6, and in photographs looks almost brand new. Restoration jobs don’t come better than this.

(Source: nicekicks.com)

WHAT THE SEKURE D DUNK LOWS AND THE CURRENT MARKET OF CUSTOM SNEAKERS

Sneaker customizer, Australian, G-Shock rep, and Custom Sneaker Forum founder Sekure D created a style all of his own years back when he began his work in custom shoes. The game is a much different place nowadays, and many custom sneaker designers and artists have abandoned the art form they once so loved to make way for hype beasts and trend riders. 

Custom sneakers have turned into a formula that involves taking a hyped shoe and a hyped pattern and combining them into the most sellable format possible. People make money, but the art is all but lost. While some still create original works of art and inspiration can still be found in the same places if you know how to dig, the majority of what is seen is nothing but color flips.

Sekure’s “What the Sekure D” pair - which dropped some months ago - takes the “flip” and flips it. The artist creates a pair of originally flipped custom sneakers, which are all but extinct in the current market. The pair features multiple original patterns from Sekure’s catalog; check out what he has to say below and more of his writing in the post:

If you were new to the scene you would swear looking at blogs that all anyone does when customizing sneakers is take pre existing colorways and patterns and repaint them onto a basketball shoe, imaginative right? I do not hate on peoples hustle or ability to flip this kind of work for large stacks but it’s disappointing to see this kind of work become the pinnacle of our field and be the only type rewarded by some of the major sneaker sites. Don’t we live in a scene that rewards originality anymore?

I begun customizing sneakers because I wanted shoes nobody else had, seeing people like Emmanuelabor, SBTG, bLue and 1OF push the boundaries of what a creative mind could do with a pair of sneakers made me decide to pursue my passion for a living and put off using my University Degrees. Seeing what we call custom sneakers today I sit back and wonder if I would still do the same thing if I was today finishing University, I am sure the answer is no.

AMAZING SPIDERMAN CUSTOM FLIGHTPOSITE 3 BY MACHE

In the Summer of record-breaking comicbook movie releases, Foamposite and Flyposite hype, and custom sneaker design blog recognition (at least for color flips), no one has rocked it harder than Dan Gamache of Mache Customs. His latest work does exactly what good custom shoe design is supposed to do, and brings together iconic patterns and a compelling sneaker silhouette into a well-thought-out and inspired theme. The result is a shoe that would break necks without dominating an outfit. Mache is certainly one of the best out there at creating shoe designs that can work with various styles. 

NIKE LEBRON 9 “WEATHERMAN” CUSTOM BY SAB-ONE

When Kevin Durant’s “Weatherman” colorway for the Nike Zoom KDIV came out, it was predicted by some to be the next “NERF” or “South Beach” in color flip customs, but quickly slipped under the radar (no pun intended) when the “Galaxy” phenomenon swept the community. Some of the bigger names in customs didn’t forget this highly compelling makeup, and Sab-One recently took to a staple in color flips to show how well it could cross over. His Lebron 9 custom matches the color palette almost perfectly, and recreated the Doppler Radar pattern on the ankle and inside the shoe. 

Sab works almost exclusively in one-offs, but you can ask for your own at his site.

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.

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?