Perforated Perfection

There is a guy in the UK who goes by Ghettrocentricity. If you have not heard of him, shame on you. Let’s fix that. For some reason one of the coolest fabrics to PaintorThread.com is perforated leather. Its just amazing how evenly spaced and sized the little holes are made. Now suede is just as cool, and Ghettrocentricity proved that with his recent New Balance 576 customs. The changes to these are so subtle only an New Balance aficionado would even have a chance of noticing the additions. The shoes started with the perforated suede on toeboxs and back ankles and 3M Scotchlite around the Ns. After Ghettro got through with them they had added Scotchlite on the back ankles and red perforated suede on the entire tongues and Ns. Simple and subtle but extremely amazing. No paint was used. Ghettro only used his deconstructing and reconstructing abilities to make a shoe a tad more original for a New Balance fan. And……..monotone shoes…a.k.a. all one color are the best shoes.

Ghettrocentricity’s Website

Before and more after pics after the jump!

Madd Rhythms by Swaves

An acronym thrown around often at the PaintOrThread office is to try and K.I.S.S. or Keep It Simple Stupid. That is exactly what new customizer Swaves might have had in mind when he created the recent Madd Rhythms Nike Dunk high for The Madd Rhythms tap dance company out of Chicago. Even though it is obvious to tell which base shoe Swaves used they are definitely one of a kind for the dancer they were made for, who goes by “Cake Daddy”. Swaves made a great replication of the Madd Rhythms logo of three figures tap dancing on the lateral and medial mid panels of both shoes. My favorite part though of these shoes is probably how the toe boxes are both painted to look like the bottom of tap shoes with the grey metal and screws. Young customizers take note, a custom does not need to be flashy with popular characters, neon colors, Scotchlite reflective material, or clear vinyl to be a great custom. So when in doubt K.I.S.S.

For more info check Swaves’: MySpace

More pics after the jump!

The most recent champion is………..Twitch!

The champion of the most recent Sole Collector Forums Custom Contest was announced last month after a year of monthly contests in 2008 that saw strong competition from some of the best customizers around like: Mizzee, Mateo Customs, C2, Sharp020, and many others. So when the finals went down 9 customizers were up against each other to win the votes of the general Sole Collector public and 5 trustworthy judges. The winner Twitch Customs known as SoleAffection on the Sole Collector forums was 1st by the public and 3rd by the judges for a big 59.3% of the total vote. Twitch’s winning design made perfect use of the base shoe. Described in his own words:

“I was highly disappointed with what Nike SB deemed the “Venom dunks” when there was no reference to Venom AT ALL. So I thought I’d do the theme justice and represent Venom or the Venom Symbiote the way he deserves to be shown. The toe, and lace panels are textured to represent the gooey, almost liquid-like symbiote form trying to consume the shoe.”

These Venom Dunks are still up for grabs in size 11. So Hit up Twitch’s MySpace or email for more info. Don’t forget to tell him where you found his customs: ThreadOrPaint.com

Twitch Customs: MySpace

Twitch Email: [email protected]

Twitch Venom Dunk
Twitch Venom Dunk

More pics after the jump!

TTK OBAMA BLAZERS II(yes another pair)

Yet another Obama custom from TTK. These may be our favorite of his work. The subtle abstract play on the American flag is really nice.  A much better design than actually having the flag on the shoes. From TTK:

This is the latest(and I’m sure not the last pair) Obama inspired sneakers I’ve done. Whenever I do an Obama pair for someone, I like to make it a complete opposite of the previous ones. I had to do these in a sz 13, which doesn’t offer much of a variety of a available sneakers to select from. I came across a pair of all white blazers, did my thing, & here’s the result from beginning to end.

TTK’s Website