You gotta start someplace……

2009 is probably gonna be the year of deconstructing and reconstructing in custom shoes. You have some dudes already at the top: Sharp020, 3RCustoms, Hypethetic, an Hush. All who have inspired the rest, one in particular is Twitch Customs. Twitch just posted up his first attempt at a “decon-recon” on the Sole Collector Forums. Hours upon hours using the sewing awl came out with a result that despite its misshaped, upper is actually kinda cool looking. They kinda remind me of the recent Coraline Dunks from Nike to promote the new movie with all the enlarged stitching. Yes the big stitching looks nothing like the released counterparts but it has a home-made and vintage feel to it that is kinda cool. Looks aside this was definitely a learning experience for Twitch who has already worked to put his name on the map with his painted designs. Take this as inspiration to set aside some time and start your own “recon-decon”

Twitch first recon-decon
Twitch first "recon-decon"

Step by step pics after the jump!

Weekly Methamphibian Throwback

This is our first and definitely not our last post like this. Paying tribute to the one person who did more for the customizing hobby than anyone else: Methamphibian. We are going to have a look at his past customs, a throwback. Which is funny because “throwbacks” were the popular clothing item when Methamphibian was on top of the sneaker world back in 2000 to about 2005. To make this post title even more ironic the first shoes were are showcasing are based off of a make believe “throwback” team from Nike: The Rayguns. His design on the Air Force 1 was based off the red and gold stripes across the Rayguns jersey. I can still remember the rumors that these would be released by Nike, back in 2002 and the subsequent Raygun Dunk sample that surfaced later that year. Which was still 3 years before the actual release of the Nike Dunk SB with the Rayguns theme in 2005. The rumor is that Methamphibian was supposedly “hired” to make this design by Nike to promote the new Nike Basketball site which was heavily based on the Rayguns campaign. These were also one of the first customs to be significantly “faked” by the factory variant makers. Now who knows where the originals are? But Mr. Methamphibian does have for sale a “retro” version of his Raygun AF1 for only $200 that would look good in any collection. Either way check back for the real answer as PaintOrThread goes out to research if Methamphibian was actually commissioned by Nike back in 2002 for this design.

Purchase the Raygun AF1 Retro

Methamphibian’s Website

Original Methamphibian Raygun AF1
Original Methamphibian Raygun AF1
Original Methamphibian AF1
Original Methamphibian AF1

Pics of the Away Rayguns and Retro Rayguns AF1s after the jump!

Diversitile: Dreamscape I & II

Quietly and slowly over the past year a customizer by the name Diversitile has been making a name for himself the right way. That right way has been through original designs that are fresh and imaginative. Based out of Orlando, Florida Diversitile released his “Dreamscape I” Dunk high last December. Here it is described in his own words:

Theses shoes were just a visual representation of one of the artist’s dreams and was conveyed with the color pattern of a coral reef. The shoes were a fun project from start to finish, simple but crazy.

I especially love the fade on the swoosh. The white around the toe panel is awkward but somehow works. Others obviously liked them as well because Diversitile made a second version with green around the back heel, a brighter coral reef pattern, AND glow in the dark ability on the back panels of the coral reef pattern. Be sure to check Diversitile’s site if you want a pair.

Diversitile’s Website

Diversitile’s MySpace

Dreamscape I
Dreamscape I
Dreamscape II
Dreamscape II

Glow in the dark pics after the jump!

Back to the Future version 1 from Mizzee

A popular theme used a few times in 2008 by customizers was the movie “Back to the Future”.Much of which was started by Nike’s release of their limited HyperDunk inspired by the movies futuristic and never released Nike Air Mag worn by Marty McFly. This all leads to the recent custom posted up by Mizzee Customs, which is his version of an Nike three-way: Nike Air Force 1 + Hyperdunk + Air Mag. Which just happens to be inspired by emmanueLabor’s own rendition. Mizzee a master of crazy painted designs was different from emmanueLabor’s in the fact that he only used paint while EL had a combo of paint and fabric. That said Mizzee came correct with a near perfect hand painted copy of the Hyperdunk Flywire and tongue tags. But the most interesting part of these are the toe box perforations to which Mizzee somehow filled up all but six of the holes to mimic the Hyper Dunk quite well. Great work by EL and Mizzee. These are supposedly the first go-round for Mizzee so check back later for an even more improved version. Or visit either’s MySpace for your own pair.

emmanueLabor’s MySpace

Mizzee Custom’s Myspace

emmanueLabors version
emmanueLabor's version
Mizzees version
Mizzee's version

More pics after the jump!