@NYCSociety X @NoldoCustoms Air Jordan XI low Snakeskin Blackout

Last month Noldo Customs set Instagram a fire with a simple addition of black to the white midsole of the Air Jordan XI bred retro. Orders surely came rushing in with many others inspired to give the look a shot on their own pairs. This time a customer request allowed Noldo to team up with NYCE Society on a similar design on the XI low. The previously all white with red sole XI low release from last summer was given a snakeskin stitched overlay upon the white patent leather by NYCE Society. The black and red skin was complimented by Noldo painting the white upper, tongues, and midsoles a la the blacked out bred XI.

Kikkor Player “The Masterer” Custom Golf Shoe by @SocialSt8ment

It’s not ALL about basketball shoes you know? A market yet to be tapped into by sneaker cutomizers is that of one of the world’s oldest sports, golf. But a a golf brand by the name of Kikkor has a keen marketing team as they hired Social Statement to customize a pair of their golf shoes. Based off the biggest weekend in the sport that just wrapped up, Dez of Social Statement took their hip silhouette and gave it a look of The Masters.

Nike Lebron X “Meteor Shower” Customs by @KickassoKustoms

One could say you can blame Nike, but the outer space theme is here to stay in custom sneakers. The last year has seen many attempts from great to poor in effort to recreate the galaxy print seen on the official Nike Foamposite All Star release of 2012. The concept has inspired some to get more specific with the cosmic look and the most recent is this “Meteor Shower” Nike Lebron X custom by Kickasso Kustoms. Using the “Prism” Lebron X as his base Kickasso gave the colorful accented design’s charcoal Hyperfuse upper an arrary of airbrushed painting.

Nike Lebron X “Weatherman” Customs by @Sab_One

Last fall Sab-1 topped public opinion on the best KD IV “Weatherman” inspired custom with his take on the metallic green and doppler radar colorway upon the Lebron 9. With the release of another all black Lebron colorway for the X’s Sab1 decided to give the weatherman look another go. After prepping and carefully masking the Nike Hyperfuse material the customization started with the airbrushed painting of the metallic jade shade of green upon the black upper.

Adidas Crazy 8 “Python” by @JBFcustoms for @I_Am_Iman

 

The jumps a few recon sneaker customizers have made in the past year have been huge. Moving away from the classic silhouettes of a Dunk or Air Force 1 to more technical sneakers. One who is steadily rising ahead of the pack of sneaker customizers in general is that of JBF Customs. His latest resume builder is a complete reconstruction of an adidas Crazy 8 retro for one of their signature athletes, Iman Shumpert of the NY Knicks. 

Air Jordan V “Miami Vice” Customs by SmoothTip

Coming up with a new never seen colorway is not easy for anyone at this point from Nike’s official designers to photoshop amateurs to sneaker customizers. But there is room to put a different spin on a supposedly overused color combo. SmoothTip took an often seen south beach look with these “Miami Vice” Air Jordan V customs. What started out as the Fire Red AJ V now has a hand painted gray upper from a previously all white leather.

Nike Air Max 1 “Skunk” by Dank Customs

 

Taking his influence from 2010’s limited release Nike Dunk “Skunk” originally designed by skateboard artist Todd Bratrud, Jake of Dank Customs continues to conquer the customization of Air Maxes.

Paintless Nike Dunk SB Statue of Liberty by Dank Customs

It doesn’t happen often but a custom made without the use of actual paint or thread is possible. To the unsuspecting these may look painted yet upon close inspection or if you just happen to know the history of the base shoe you’ll realize the graphics are actually the bottom layer peering through the green surface. Dank Customs gave the 2011 Nike Dunk SB “Statue of Liberty” a bit more styling with creation of two different angles of the statue on the back heels, an American flag motif on the toeboxes, and his logo right near the outer toe.