Is there any non-athlete that has a bigger impact on the sneaker world than Kanye West? The “Yeezy” colorway customs are rampant and non-news at this point but DMC Kicks gives a nod to West’s musical prowess of his 2005 single Gold Digger on this Air Jordan IV. These don’t entail a huge alteration as the starting base is still recognizable being the cement gray/white colorway of the AJ IV retro. [more]
The current great will always be compared to Air Jordan. Grant Hill, Penny Hardaway, and Kobe Bryant were the first few. Lebron came in with years of comparisons, so much that now kids coming in 10 years later are compared to Lebron. But will Lebron overcome Jordan or will he establish his own completely unique legacy? [more]
How often do you look at stuff you see everyday and think, “hmmm how would that design look on a sneaker?” For the sneaker customizer with a good eye for design the skill of recreating a theme or look on a sneaker without a blatant logo or graphic is something to be proud of. This latest custom along those subtle design inspiration ways by Maggie of FGcustoms may remind those in the know of a Air Force 1 look-a-like Menthol design by artist ARI in 2006. This pair though the concept is less on making a statement or mocking branding but instead creating a freshly influenced design. [more]
As the custom sneaker world grows and certain customizers focus on a niche skill the amount of collaborations will only increase. An often seen custom is that of a colorswap, but instead of just a color change @ammoskunk and SewnUpSoles went a bit further to be filed under the “hybrid” classification. Titled “Air Yeezy IV Revelation” this retro Air Jordan IV has been mashed up with that of an Nike Air Yeezy II. What started out as a Jordan IV retro in the military blue colorway now has the look of the Yeezy II’s black/solar red colorway starting with an all black upper. [more]
Inspiration comes from all places. For DeJesus Customs their latest custom work comes inspired by the way of eccentric rapper Trinidad James and his look from the video for his single All Gold Everything along with the work of another sneaker customizer. What started as an all white Pure Money $ AJ IV is now titled T.Jame$ 4 featuring an hand painted upper of bright red for the most part. [more]
As with other forms of art collecting, return customers are not uncommon in the custom sneaker world. What is uncommon but likely to become a trend thanks to @joevenuto are multiple commissions that, when combined, form a 1-of-1 custom pack. Mr. Venuto called on Eric aka El Cappy for a three pair deal that incorporates world history and the individual histories of the Air Jordan III, IV, and V.
JoeVenuto and Cappy reflected on historical events that coincided with the original release dates of the three Nike Air Jordan models, crafting the pairs to represent their respective event. As the Air Jordan III was hitting shelves in 1988, the United States government was revving up it’s anti-drug legislation and fixing loopholes in the 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act. The Jordan III “Dope Boy” Customs feature a high-gloss bright red upper with gold-chain graphics throughout, reminiscent of the flashy cars, clothing, and jewelry that were popular assets for drug dealers in the 80′s. The gold is also used to around the toe cap and heel and is complimented by silver razor-blade graphics on the collar. This pair is finished off with “cocaine” lines and a white “88″ on the heel tab.
The Air Jordan IV “Berlin Wall” Customs shown below used the Fire Red Jordan IVs as a base, covering the pair in graffiti markings similar to the defacement of the actual wall until November 8, 1989 when the border separating Western and Eastern Germany was opened after nearly 30 years.
Lastly, the Air Jordan V “Desert Storm” Customs were made to commemorate the military strike during the Gulf War (codenamed Desert Storm) which began in August 1990. Starting with a pair of Metallic Jordan Vs, the upper was made to resemble the Desert Camo worn by US forces in Kuwait. The netting and jumpman are blacked out and Cappy included 4 stars on each side, signifying the rank of a 4-Star General. Just like the other pairs, these are accented with the 3-dimensional numbers on the heel, this time a “99″ in an American flag motif.
Check out this video from JoeVenuto that gives an in-depth explanation of the overall theme and the specific themes for each pair in the pack:
More images of the pack can be found over at JoeVenuto.com and as always you can check out more from El Cappy at ElCap1of1.com
Released yesterday on Christmas Eve just in time for the Grinch to maybe stop Christmas Day these Air Jordan IV customs by FreakerSneaks go above simply painting a themes colorway. The bitter cave dwelling Grinch from Mount Crumpit who’s most signature feature is his green fur was mimicked inside the sockliner, tongues, and replaced the mesh netting with a green dyed rabbit fur. The previously red and white Air Jordan IV was painted shades of green with red painted on the toe mudguards. Hand painted details of The Grinch’s sinister smile and yellow eyes can be seen on the back heel with the red and white stripped Dr. Suess hat on the other shoe. Lastly the Air Jordan Flight tongue tags were replaced with those of The Grinch disguised as Santa in Jordan silhouette form. [more]
In celebration of The Game’s album release yesterday titled Jesus Piece, Dan of Mache Customs created a custom Air Jordan “player exclusive” style for the Los Angeles rapper. What was known as Game’s favorite Jordan model, the IV, Mache used the recent black/red retro release transforming the entire black suede upper into a toro bravo red to start. Next details of a hand painted GAME logo and Jesus piece were placed on the outer heels. Last touches of the album artwork grace the insoles with custom lasered shoelace deubrés made by his friend at Absolelute.com. [more]
The years were 1989 and 1991, Michael Jordan and David Robinson, the Air Jordan IV debuted first and the Nike Air Command Force a couple years later. MJ continued to sell shoes obviously while Mr. Robinson never gained that status that could sell his own signature shoe. Surely Robinson influenced some sales. But Woody Harrelson playing as Billy Hoyle rocking the Command Force in White Men Can’t Jump is considered more significant than anything that happened in them around Mr. Robinson’s Neighborhood. Yet for emmanueLabor this custom combining the both pairs was a way to bring him back to his childhood. [more]
The past couple months Elom of Ecentrik Artistry has made the Air Jordan 4 retro a go-to base shoe for his mirrored colorway customs. First was a new look on the South Beach colorway next was a remix of the Doernbecher 4s while this time gives a recent Son of Mars color scheme a sibling titled Bro of Mars. The former Military Blue AJ 4 was first changed with a deep shade of yellow on the wings and heel Jumpman logos. Next up to mirror the Son of Mars was to add elephant print across the toe mudguards. Lastly a covering of cool gray was painted on the formerly off white upper. The perfect custom pair if you love the original pictured below. [more]
The Air Jordan line has been getting its taste of animal skin as of late in the custom sneaker world. The most recent is the Air Jordan IV in the classic “bred” colorway. Created by Dominic Chambrone aka The Shoe Surgeon this Jordan retro was reconstructed with an overlay of black python skin over the entire black nubuck upper. The back heel tabs and eyelet wings were kept while the Air Jordan flight tongue tags were replaced with those of The Shoe Surgeons logo lasered into red suede. Exotic. [more]
Give him a theme and Evan of Revive Customs will attack it. You may look at these with one eyebrow raised but their awesomeness is immeasurable. Known for his take on the What the…? theme of combining multiple shoes’ memorable patterns on one Evan decided to poke fun at the bootleg sneaker with this What the Fake Air Jordan IV custom.
The previously all white AJ 4 now features at a slew of patterns with at least 20 different hand painted colors. Featured are hand painted mocks of patterns seen on fake Nikes over the past 5 to 10 years: rainbow LV pattern, SpongeBob Squarepants, Big Pun Air logo, Jor1 $ signs, Hello Kitty, stars and stripes, and random colors. [more]
Nine years ago the first set of Nike Doernbecher sneakers were released to help raise funds for the Doernbecher Children’s Hospital. The unique aspect of the project is each the year the shoes released are Nike models whose colorways and themes are designed by patients of the hospital. This custom by Ecentrik Artistry takes on the colorway of the 2011 Air Jordan IV Doernbecher but flipped. The original features a mostly black upper with green and blue accents. For this customer commission the request was to turn the colors around as Ecentrik painted the upper an entire royal blue, the midsole and tongue tag lime green and black upon the logos, wings and midsoles. Lastly a silhouette graphic of the original pairs young designer Isiah Scott is mimicked from the inspiring pair in a lighter blue along with the side netting. Which would you pick?
Check more work and comission your own custom from Ecentrik Aritstry at www.EcentrikArt.net
The original Air Jordan IV Doernbecher released by Nike and designed by Isiah Scott. Image via SoleCollector
Not everyone is tired of the “South Beach” colorway. This time it takes on the Air Jordan IV retro in a customization by Ecentrik Artistry. As a customer request Elom of Ecentrik choose not to complicate the many panels and details of the classic 4th Air Jordan signature model with an overdose of turquoise and pink. Instead he took the fresh clear Florida water as inspiration giving their upper a very pale blue nearly gray upper redoing the off white of these previously military blue AJ IV’s. Next the side panel and tongue netting was given a solid black covering while the formerly blue sections were painted turquoise such as the midsole, plastic eyelets, and back heel tabs. Lastly the pink of the SB look was kept short on just a few placements on the back midsole, Jumpman logo, plastic wings and the shoe laces. South Beach without being ugh another South Beach custom.
This design is not available to purchase directly from EcentrickArt.net but contact him there to comission your own or maybe another custom painted Air Jordan you have in mind.
