Story behind Dunk Force 1’s by The Sole Seeker

Earlier this week Gabe aka The Sole Seeker had a certain customizing forum’s attention when he posted his Nike “Blue Lobster” Dunk SB with a Nike Air Force 1 sole. This has been seen before at sneaker shows notably the Supreme Dunk SB with AF1 sole sticks out in my mind as one of the first to cause a stir. Though they had all been made by Nike. This is the first time a customizer has cleanly presented the finished sole swap as a custom. Not that other people have not or could not, it just has not been seen. So I contacted Gabe for more on the story behind his sole swapping venture:

What inspired you to attempt this customizing of switching uppers and soles of Dunks and AF1?

The inspiration came from 2 things, Chi McBride and a pair of Jordan Six Rings I did.  I’ve been in the shoe game since ‘95 and my favorite shoe is the Space Jam AJ XI so when the 6 rings dropped I wanted a Space Jam colorway since they looked relatively alike.  So I took a Concord and Bred 6 rings and mated the Bred upper to the Concord bottom and made my own Space Jam 6 Rings.  I did not wanna just paint the concord upper cause I wanted it to look original so that’s what started the whole Decon-Recon thing for me and once I saw the Chi McBride photo of his Unkle Dunk SB highs x AF1 bottoms I had to have it, so out of necessity my Dunk Force 1 or DF-1 were created.

df11

Interview with Shoe Customizer Nizo of Sweatshop Clothing

Making a splash to the scene while doing what they love is essentially the plan Sweatshop Clothing is following. Aside from that determination they have cool nickname that is a play on the clothing industries most negative problem over the last 15 years. So enough typing here is the story behind Sweatshop Clothing.

1. Please give your name, age, where you are from and or grew up?

Nizos, 27, living in Cincinnati now, but grew up in Anderson, Indiana. Sweatshop Clothing is a duo, and I’d imagine if Kirk (the other half) was here, he’d say “old enough and I came from the streets”.

2. What, if any, art based education have you had?

Formal training? I didn’t learn to paint wearing a tuxedo if that is what you’re asking, hahaha. No formal training.

3.When did you start and what got you into customizing?

I cranked out my 1st pair of kicks in early ‘07, had been painting for a while, gifts and things for myself. I’ve always had a great love for sneakers hood sh!t in general. I had no idea there was a whole customizing culture out there until mid 08, and was very excited to see all the information being exchanged….I read a lot and keep up with forums like ISS, it’s a real wealth of knowledge.

4. Is customizing a full time gig? If not what pays the bills?

Full time gig, I haven’t had a job for a long time, I’ve always been the type of cat who’d rather get paid of his own ingenuity then put on a monkey suit and take orders from some chump. Not that I advocate it, but it’s a reality….can’t sell dope forever, now I push dope kicks & clothing.