What The Shackles Adidas Superstar by eXpression Airbrush

Collaborations between big big corporate brands in the same category is usually saved for our imaginations. For example I doubt Pepsi and Coke will ever release a joint venture soda. In all liklihood Nike will never work with Adidas either…..but what if each of their most unique and newsworthy shoes in recent years were a collaboration? Well this “What the Shackles” by eXpression Airbrush may have been the result. The “What the Dunk” Nike SB release was recreated on a pair of Adidas Adicolor Superstars but instead of stopping there an idea from the recent controversially canceled Adidas Roundhouse “HandCuffs” by Jeremy Scott were thrown into the mix.

“The idea for the what the dunk version on the shoe came from my client, however, I was a little hesitant to do it until he gave me artistic freedom to put my twist, hence the shackle. You may think interesting, yes, controversial and over the top, yes. It maybe outrageous and overwhelming. All of these things are with purpose, but random, not necessarily. Everything about this shoe is anything but simple.

When I took on this commission I knew many would hate it. Simply because of the brand and because it would be sort of impostor shoe, a fake, a wanna be. And then the Adidas shackles never made it to production. What ever Jeremy Scotts intentions were in creating the shackles I do not know but It’s sad to say that in this day and age all it takes is one person to say, “Witch!!!” and everyone jumps on board. So right then and there it became clear to me that these custom being what they already were, an Adidas impostor, needed the shackles. It is the perfect base an Adidas adicolor in a special case with full set of colors which implies that the owner has the freedom to customize this pair however they please, ironically giving the power to break the shackles of social slavery.” – Robert of eXpression Airbrush

This intricate pair is a 1 of 1 that will stay that way but to see more work or commission your own 1 of 1 visit eXpression Airbrush on Facebook.com/expressionairbrush

Sea Sick Nike Dunk Custom By El Cappy

One key to longevity as a shoe customizer, and any brand for that matter, is a recognizable style. El Cappy of Detroit, Michigan has slowly built that signature look over the past year and it only continues with each custom. Last week PaintOrThread showcased his Adidas Superstar Big Gamer Hunter and this pair has a similar feel with the use of leopard print again.

As a private order for a repeat customer out of San Francisco, California El Cappy combined the big cat print with an anchor pattern that is all his own in black against red. But quality is all in the details as a close look reveals metal eyelets and black chainlinks on the heel tab and first few lace holes and a gray centered camouflage on the back heel. The coolest part though is the way El Cappy covered the Swooshes with a more modern Swoosh outline in red around the leopard print.

This design is likely to stay a 1 of 1 so before you contact El Cappy via his site: elcap1of1.com or through Twitter: @ericmafuknlowry be sure to have your own design in mind.

Fallout Vault Dweller Nike Dunk Custom Shoes by Jacob Patterson

Can you imagine a post-apocalyptic world brought down by oil conflicts? That may never be a world we experience in our lifetimes but this is virtual-reality if you are a gamer in the open world role playing video game series Fallout. Titled, “Vault Dweller” these custom Nike Dunks by Jacob Patterson are based off the Fallout game series and more specifically Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas in which the main character is one of many whom is forced to live in a government contracted fallout shelter called “Vaults.” In the game each “Vault Dweller” is given a device called a PipBoy 2000 that is used to help them above ground on quests with maps, book keeping, and their exposure to toxic chemicals. To match the technological concept of a PipBoy, Patterson teamed up with customizer emmanueLabor to situate into the reconstructed tongues a set of two jail-broken Apple iPod Touches complete with sounds, music, and apps related to the Fallout series. Next level.

The painted design itself by Patterson features an overall dirty, worn, abused look with the left shoe having a soldier in Power Armor from Fallout 3 on the side contrasted by a Ranger from New Vegas on the right shoe. Because the iPods speakers couldn’t do the audio features justice Patterson custom sculpted a speaker in the shape of an fallen undetonated nuclear bomb amongst rocks and water. The amount of work alone put into that piece is a story in itself from mishaps to shoe customizer problem solving, which can all be read here via CustomSneakerForum.com. In the end it became a project that took Patterson over a year and a half but has an end result of a cornerstone in his artistic career and custom sneakers in general. Taking the possibilities with custom sneakers to well beyond just another pair of shoes.

Checkout more work and commission your own custom shoes from Jacob Patterson via: JacobPatterson.Tumblr.com

Air Jordan VI Porsche Agate Metallic Silver by C2 Customs

A little over a month ago C2 allowed PaintOrThread the chance to be the first to announce his custom all red Air Jordan VI inspired by a red Porsche 911. Coincidentally Porsche actually released news of their latest 911 Carrera Cabriolet that same morning via the 2012 Detroit Auto Show. Guess which was making more news on blogs and Twitter? Probably the custom sneakers by C2. Something that also doesn’t happen much is seeing a pair of customs in multiple colorways like this. As a customer request by sneakerhead Sole202 C2 gave the Air Jodan 6 another version to match the agate metallic silver 911. All the same hand painted details are seen from the air bags yellow edges to match the calipers, the Air Jordan Porsche mash up logo on the heels and this time two gold pieces (instead of silver) of piping on the heels to represent the exhaust. The major changes can be seen in the tongue mesh being bright red and of course the entire shoe upper and midsoles silver instead of red. Lastly a subtle 911 and Sole 202 personalization can be seen on the left and right shoes lateral panels. It’s a good bet to say C2 won’t remake this exact same design so you better find the next best Porsche color to choose from and send him an email….like yesterday if you are wanting a pair!

Checkout more work and contact C2 Customs via his website here: C2Customs.com

Red Porsche 911 Custom Air Jordan VI Shoes by C2 Customs

Over the 26 years of Air Jordans a main point of inspiration for their designers has been found in the automotive and airline industries. One of the first was the Air Jordan VI made by the brands most well known designer, Tinker Hatfield. Releasing in 1991 Hatfield’s VI design was created based on the look of the Porsche 911, one of Michael Jordan’s cars at that time. The most telling piece of the shoe became the pronounced, black and red plastic heel tab on the VI that was created in the essence of the 911′s over sized spoiler. Chris Hui of C2 Customs‘ goal on this pair of Air Jordan VIs was to further develop the original inspiration and transform the shoe to embody the look of a Porsche as close as possible.

C2 started out using a youth sized white/varsity red/black Air Jordan VI retro as his base shoe, seen below to understand the amount of changes made. After prepping the shoes properly, change number one was painting all white parts Porsche’s official “Guards Red”, complete with that auto body like shine using a waxed gloss finish. Second the white neoprene tongues were dyed tan to match the rich tan leather interiors. A third subtle detail included painting of the Air Max cavity walls a bright maize to represent the signature Brembo brakes and calipers of the 911s. To add more of that official Porsche look, the placement of emblems on the toe and heels a la hood and trunk was painted with gold and black. The front being a small C and 2, while the back mimics the Porsche coat of arms using the stitched Jumpman logo as its centerpiece. Now that is where many customizers would stop and call it done. The details are what C2 is all about though, as his toughest task was drilling four holes and filling them with hand cut metal to create the look of the Porsche 911′s quad exhaust. Luckily C2 is patient enough to not have mis-drilled the holes considering he probably did that step first and could have easily ruined this pair of Jordans and the entire project. There is no way to imagine how hyped these Porsche Air Jordan VI would be if they were an official Air Jordan release. Thanks to C2 for the first look here on PaintOrThread.com.

Checkout more work by Chris and contact him for your own detailed C2 custom sneaker via his website: C2Customs.com

C2′s Porsche 911 inspiration board:

Before being customized by C2, image via Hypebeast.com

Hella Elephant Nike Blazer Premium Custom by Impeccable Customs

One customizer steadily building a reputation for going above and beyond just a basic custom paint job has been Impeccable Customs. He has gotten the dyed clear soles and engraving techniques down. This pair of Premium Nike Blazers titled “Hella Elephant” feature something that has not been done by much of any shoe customizers. The relatively all gray Blazers are covered in an engraved take on the classic elephant print. Next the lace panels are painted red to match the Swooshes that are made from red leather cord weaved in and out of the leather in a criss cross pattern. A close look at the back heel panels shows the usual NIKE tagging but again it is also created from a leather cord in black. This leather cord weaving technique is definitely something you could only get from a shoe customizer. Do you think Impeccable’s use of the cord is something he should continue to do? PaintOrThread says yes!

If you’d like to buy your own pair of “Hella Elephants” visit Impeccables shop here: ShopImpeccable.com

Vote in the 2011 Vans Custom Culture Custom Shoe Contest

The Custom Culture team over at Vans dwindled down the list of somewhere around 1000 high school entries to 50 for the 2011 Vans Custom Culture Shoe Customizing Contest. Each school is represented by 4 pairs of customized Vans created by their art students in hopes of winning a trip to New York for the top 5 Finalists spots and a then Final Winner prize of $50,000 for their schools art department. Now it is your turn to help pick the best finalist school in each region: California, Northwest, Southwest, Northeast, and Southeast. 200 unique designs ranging from hand painted California surf montages, portraits, music inspired graphics, a pair with a monster hand rising out from the front to un-wearable Vans cut up and built as part of a miniature skate half-pipe complete with LED lights. The variety of designs is major. That and the 2010 Vans Custom Culture winners Rio Rancho High School in New Mexico put together a real nice showing that could definitely be the best overall set of 4 individual pairs. Do your part, vote and share with other custom shoe and art fans to vote.

See all 200 custom Vans and vote here: www.Vans.com/customculture

Rio Rancho High School in Rio Rancho, NM

Da Vinci Schools in Hawthorne, CA

Prairie High School in Cedar Rapids, IA

11 pairs of Womens and Kids Custom Christmas Themed Shoes

Despite the fact that Nike usually comes out with some sort of Christmas colorway shoe ever year Christmas and other winter holidays are not a very popular theme among the average PaintOrThread.com featured shoe customizers. But…there is a market of people that do like Christmas themed custom shoes and I have a feeling they are along the lines of the same people that buy Christmas sweaters but not because they think they are ugly. So here is a look at 11 (of the actually better executed) Christmas themed shoes and a cool set of Converse All Star Chuck Taylor stockings.

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer Custom Converse All Star Chuck Taylors via Amazon.com

The Grinch Who Stole Christmas toddler shoes via eBay.com

Wintery Snowy Christmas womens Hi cut Converse All Star Chuck Taylors by Artouches on Etsy via http://epherielldesigns.com/

The Grinch Who Stole Christmas womens shoes by elizapink on Etsy

Santa Claus and Candy Cane Swarovski crystal Converse Chuck Taylors by Dara43 on Etsy

Womens Candy Cane clogs by dinosaurbox on Etsy

Converse All Star Chuck Taylor Stockings(not real shoes) by creationzbycatherine on Etsy

Toddler Christmas Tree and Lights painted canvas shoes by JLPerillo on Etsy

Santa Claus and Reindeer womens Sugar shoes by dreaminbohemian on Etsy

Believe in Santa Claus and his reindeer womens shoes by dlnquentunicorn on Etsy

The Grinch shoes by Buttercup Customs on Etsy

PimpMyKicks Custom Nike Air Force 1 Shoes on Extreme Makeover Home Edition

About 10 days ago the crew of customizers over at PimpMyKicks.com had the chance to donate a pair of custom sneakers to a family featured on ABC’s Extreme Makeover Home Edition. In case you missed it here is a look at the basketball themed Nike Air Force 1 lows they created for the Anderson family’s son Jaison.  These custom Air Force Ones feature a front upper with a painted faux wood grain finish, and a basketball leather print and netting on the back heels. This show always shares a family and their heart breaking story, this episode was no short of that with the parents both being blind. Watching a story like this really makes you think how lucky you are to be able to do something as simple as paint a pair of shoes. Remember someone always has something more difficult to deal with.

Watch the full episode online here: ABC’s Extreme Makover Home Edition 12/05/10

Dorothy of the Wizard of Oz Ruby Red Slipper Nikes by (IN)DECOROUS TASTE

Dorothy from Wizard of Oz meets Lady Gaga. Lauren Tennenbaum of (IN)DECOROUS TASTE was asked by a woman at Nike to create some sort of Nike sneaker slash heel platform hybrid, I’d say she delivered. Given a sample lot of about 5 Nike running shoes Lauren picked the all red pair and gave them a completely new identity. Here is a quick step by step: deconstruct, chop off toes, hand sew ruby red sequins to mesh, build a new rubber foam platform, rebuild a pointy toe, attach platform, glue ruby red sequins to platform, repeat. Sounds easy enough, right? This definitely took some skills, especially building the foam platforms to equal perfection. I cannot even imagine trying to walk in these, pure aweseomeness.

For your own pair of hybrid Nike sneaker heels visit Lauren’s site here: www.indecoroustaste.com

Ding Dong! The Witch is dead. Which old Witch? The Wicked Witch!
Ding Dong! The Wicked Witch is dead.

Candra Palmer of Artyce Footwear article on TheAtlantaPost.com

“I live my passion every day. As an entrepreneur you get to do what you want,” she said. “A few years is a small cost for living your dream.” That is the last line of Candra Palmer’s recent article on The Atlanta Post about her steps before and in between her journey to turn a hobby of customizing womens heels into a full time profitable business. Palmer’s line Artyce Footwear, that she started in 2004 is made up of completely custom designed, built, and embellished special occasion womens shoes. Artyce was even choosen as one of a few designers to work with luxury crystal manufacture Swarovski for their recent CRYSTALLIZED™ – Swarovski Elements that toured Paris, Spain, Tokyo, Las Vegas, New York and Chicago

Palmer’s story of determination and ability to learn an industry is definitely great inspiration for anyone looking to make a living out of a creative endevor and not just custom footwear.

Checkout her article here: Meet The Shoe Designer and Entrepreneur Behind Artyce Custom Footwear via TheAtlantaPost.com

Interview with Jacob Patterson About His Appearance G4TV’s Attack of the Show

Back at the end of August, Los Angeles, California based shoe customizer Jacob Patterson was featured on the pop-culture TV show titled “Attack of the Show” on the G4TV network. Patterson’s video game themed shoes were part of the “SneakerHeads” segment the show regularly puts on. Now that some time has passed I caught up with Jacob about his experience on the set as well as a few of his thoughts and plans using YouTube as his main outlet to share his custom shoes and art with the world.

Its been few weeks now that you were featured on G4TV’s Attack of the Show but its always fun to look back on unique experiences of getting recognition for your work. How did this come about? Did they contact you or you submit information to them?

After making the God of War Dunks (The Kratos Kicks) I created something of a small press kit and had my manager send it out to major blogs. We focused on sites like HypeBeast and Kotaku. We were really excited about Kotaku, as they are a gaming-based blog known for showed custom items themed after video games. About a week later they featured me, and we got tons of emails from major game and television companies interested in what I do. One of these was G4TV, who wanted to feature me on Attack of the Show and highlight my custom kicks.

You spent some time in the AOTS studio right? How was that? Any one thing stick out in your memory?

The thing that most interested me was the size of the studio. They don’t have a very big one; indeed, there’s not even a live audience. They explained that they do this on purpose because they simply don’t need any more space than that, and they allow the crew to act out and laugh loudly as their “audience” to make the show seem more personal. It also allows Kevin to make more jokes to the crowd and gives the show more character. I remember them asking us to laugh loudly at things we thought were funny. It was a blast.

As a shoe customizer you have stuck to a niche in sharing your work that not many others use, video marketing through YouTube. Do you have any advice on how or why other shoe customizers can implement a video to help gain exposure?

I am not sure any other customizers will choose to utilize YouTube the way I have done. It is a constant battle between the artist, designer, online personality, and actual personality that I am to maintain that online image. It’s tough work to stay consistent and I am only barely scratching the surface of profit (where most of the changes start forcing themselves upon your career). I have a producer and manager now, and we have plans to work out large marketing schemes to hit bigger audiences. One thing that sucks is that I have to do more public-friendly designs. One thing that rocks, however, is that I get to pick projects that have interesting stories.

My suggestion for anyone who would like to utilize YouTube as a marketing platform is that you focus HEAVILY on presentation. Mine is nowhere near where it needs to be in order to be taken seriously, and simple custom shoe reviews would kill it for me. If you are going to make something out of YouTube in line with your work, every project needs to have a video in mind before starting. If it’s something you plan to tack on at the end, don’t bother. You’ll actually hurt yourself and your image. At least that’s my opinion. You should go for full online transparency OR the classic mysterious artist image so that people can ask “how did he do that? Those paint strokes/gradients/textures are amazing!” For me it’s something I can hope to work for because I am focused a lot on YouTube as a primary source of income in the coming months, but only a select few people can hope to achieve that and I have spent a good three years setting it up. Lol long answer.

YouTube and Internet video in general is really an amazing medium available to nearly anyone in the world with internet and access to at least a cheap camera. It is pretty interesting to see how individuals have used the platform to meet others, share their talents, and reach dreams. What you can share about the plans you have with your Youtube channel in the near future to do those same things and spread the word of shoe customizing?

To be honest, my favorite thing that YouTube has done for me is allow me to meet people I could not have met otherwise. EmmanueLabor was one of my idols. I wrote a report on him in an art history course. Now I am working on a collaboration with him. Over the next few months I am flying all over the world with a humanitarian organization to paint murals with the locals of different countries and documenting the trips. In the very near future I will be collabbing with and featuring spotlights on all of the customizers I respect and look up to (as long as they are free to do so). I have a couple of series planned on the channel, along with some big collabs with other YouTubers and some videos that are more focused on the video as the end result of an art project as opposed to a documentary OF a finished piece. I am excited to see where I go as I transition from artist/online personality to online personality/artist. I just have to figure out how to stop being so damn awkward on camera.

If you have anything else related to the show or Youtubing as a shoe customizer feel free to share.

The only other thing I can say is that I am now working full-time as an artist and YouTuber, so there will be a jump in my work that will be very visible. You’ll see a ton more content and a lot of different content. There are a lot of ideas in my head both for customs and other stuff, and I think I will finally have time to do some of it. I am eager to take the current commercial-art-conscious climate that is present in the city of Los Angeles into my own work and see where it goes.

To have your own video game themed custom kicks visit Jacob’s site here: JacobPattersonArt.com

Quick Custom Nike Big “Dino” by Sweatshop Custom Clothing

Sometimes things just need a small addition that takes no time at all, like the recent Dino from the Flintstones inspired Nike Big retro. Using a purple suede, light blue laces, and black spots Sweatshop Custom Clothing figured Nike had a great design but they were missing one thing: Dino’s crazy eyes. A few quick additions and this is the result. Custom lace locks as well.

These are available in all men’s sizes from SweatShop Custom Clothing’s Website

“Nike Air Force One (Wired)” Customs by Gabriel Dishaw

Sneaker enthusiasts may have seen the work of Gabriel Dishaw out on the sneaker blogs this past year, actually I can almost guarantee you have. Remember those Nike Dunks made out metal and recycled computer parts? 7 of those 1:1 scale reproductions of collectible Nike sneakers made out of recycled computer parts, electronics, found metals, and other up-cycled materials are now displayed in Gabriel Dishaw’s first solo show: “(Not So) New Shoes” at the 360SEE art gallery in Chicago, Illinois as the galleries main attraction for their annual Earth Day Show. The showcase runs from April 23rd to May 31st at which 360SEE will serve as a depository for old laptops, personal computers, typewriters, and other electronic components for Dishaw to use in future sculptures. All materials deposited that are not usable by Dishaw will be properly recycled to keep as many harmful and toxic materials out of our landfills.

To coincide with the un-wearble shoe sculptures Dishaw has created an actual wearable customized Nike Air Force 1 using recycled parts from your favorite laptop computer companies dysfunctional motherboards and more. Titled the “Nike Air Force One (Wired)” is available in 3 colors: green, orange, and copper. Featuring placement of the recycled parts on the tongue, mid panel perforations, Nike Swooshes, and lace locks with matching colored laces. The computer parts really pop against the all white Nike Air Force Ones that are a made-to-order limited edition run of 5 pairs per color available while supplies last from 4/23/2010 to 5/31/2010 at the 360SEE gallery. All of the proceeds from Dishaw’s customized Air Force One shoes will be donated to the Earth Day Network.

Checkout more details about the 360SEE Earth Day Show: “(Not So) New Shoes” and Gabriel Dishaw at 360SEE’s Website HERE