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.
Mens Customs
Customs made for men
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.
Cole Haan x fragment design Lunargrand Saddle “Knicks” Customs by Revive Customs
Evan of Revive Customs got on Spike Lee‘s radar back in February 2013 with the release of the Nike Air Revolution “Radio Raheem” customs, inspired by a character in Spike’s film, Do The Right Thing. Soon after, he collaborated with Cole Haan on a pair of Lunargrand Wingtips that honored the history of the brand. Now, the trifecta is complete.
To celebrate the #1 Knicks fan’s birthday, we have the Cole Haan x fragment design Lunargrand Saddle “Knicks” Customs by Revive Customs. This time using the “Cole Haan & fragment design LunarGrand Saddle” as a base, Evan painted this New York Knicks inspired pair with a colorway
Air Jordan 3 “Cork” by District Customs
The Nike Lebron 10 Cork was one of the most anticipated sneakers we’ve seen in a while and naturally that translates into inspiration for sneaker customizers. The most recent artist to tackle the Cork theme is District Customs with this pair of Air Jordan 3s. Taking the White Cement 3 as a base, District Customs spent 60 long hours engraving and painting the tumbled leather upper to resemble the porous cork material. The tongue, liner and mudguard feature a deep brown while the tongue liner has been dyed a wine-tone, continuing with the classy theme. DC also included reversible cork/gold dubres, designer wooden shoetrees, custom hand tags, and a custom engraved wooden slide box with a golden plate and leather strap.
Cole Haan x Revive Customs LunarGrand Wingtip
If you thought customs were only for sneakers, think again. Revive Customs is making major moves with this sample art piece for Cole Haan. For those unfamiliar, Cole Haan is a fashion label founded in Chicago as a men’s footwear company. The company has since expanded into apparel, women’s footwear, belts, handbags, and various other high quality goods. Using the stylish leather LunarGrand Wingtip as a base, Evan of Revive Customs crafted this pair to pay homage to the brand’s history. “1928” on the vamps signify the year that the company was founded, and the numbers were painted onto cows that represent the high quality leather Cole Haan uses in their footwear. The designs seen covering the majority of the shoes, as well as the phrase “especially made for Cole Haan” on the heels, were inspired by shoe dressing boxes of the 1900s and other vintage accoutrements, a balanced marriage of old and new.
Nike Air “Spurs” Unlimited by Jai Cruz of Revive Customs
Revive Customs has been expanding their company as of late. Jai Cruz is now the head of the Revive Restorations department and is making his official debut with this restoration/sole swap of a pair of 1994 Nike Air Unlimiteds. Jai swapped the old soles and replaced them with fresh ones from a pair of Emerald Nike Air Force 180s. Jai used the Deep Emerald hits of the shoe as inspiration and painted the uppers with the vintage logo of the San Antonio Spurs, three horizontal “paint swipes” of emerald, bright pink, and mango that signified the vibrant personality of the city and honored the strong Mexican/Chicano population.
Nike Air Jordan IV “Snow Sniper” by FreakerSneaks
FreakerSneaks is having a love affair with fur right now. If you made it to this year’s Sneakerness then you probably saw his Air Jordan IV Grinch customs up close. To follow the love (and hate) he received from that pair, FreakerSneaks now presents the Nike Air Jordan IV “Snow Sniper.”
The upper features a white camouflage design, complete with a sniper toting Camo Jumpman on the tongue tag (very Inception-esque). The heels feature a sniper scope graphic and “3-9X50,” the model number of the Snow Sniper’s scope. FreakerSneaks lined the entire shoe with white fur that peeks out around the ankle and above the toebox.
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.