If you’ve been wondering how some customizers have been adding special patches to their customizations here is your answer: Herbjuice. If you know the name you’ve likely come across his work on the aforementioned sneaker customizers or his patches of Air Jordan and Nike silhouettes posted all over Instagram. With his growing popularity in the custom scene we had to get more info on how Herbjuice’s whole production came about. So read below to see what has happened and what might be next.
What DOES love got to do with it? Everything, right? The theme of love, summer love that is, comes back around again from Ecentrik Artistry for 2013. Previous Summer Love collection of custom sneakers from EA were on Nike models like Air Force 1s and Air Max 90s. This time the oh so popular Air Jordan V catches the love bug. Using two recent retros of the AJ V in white/black/red and “Grape” Ecentrik created a whole new look for the shoe.
Off the sneaker customization radar since about late 2010 theMenace is back with all new recon custom sneakers. You may remember his work that made some noise as full reconstructions of the Vans Sk8 Hi. Well some of the materials he used are the same but base model different being that of the Air Jordan I. TheMenace gave the iconic AJ 1 silhouette a look of what was probably worn with them originally quite often in those mid 1980s: acid wash denim.
One of the easier “concepts” in the custom sneaker world is that of the color swap. It involves the customizing a pair of sneakers into a different colorway based on an officially released colorway of a different model of shoes. Even though the creativity needed to complete a color swap is basic, the skills needed to pull off a decent end result take some practice to achieve.
Is there any non-athlete that has a bigger impact on the sneaker world than Kanye West? The “Yeezy” colorway customs are rampant and non-news at this point but DMC Kicks gives a nod to West’s musical prowess of his 2005 single Gold Digger on this Air Jordan IV. These don’t entail a huge alteration as the starting base is still recognizable being the cement gray/white colorway of the AJ IV retro.
The Air Jordan XI seems to be in a close competition with the Lebron X as the current it shoe among customizers(and their customers). With more releases this year scheduled and restocks of recent releases like the XI Playoffs aka “breds” we can only expect more customs. Times sure have changed as just as a few years ago most people would type in the comment sections “oh they are cool but people would think they are fakes, so I wouldn’t rock em.” But with such a complex and distinguished design the XI really only looks good with simple customization.
The current great will always be compared to Air Jordan. Grant Hill, Penny Hardaway, and Kobe Bryant were the first few. Lebron came in with years of comparisons, so much that now kids coming in 10 years later are compared to Lebron. But will Lebron overcome Jordan or will he establish his own completely unique legacy?
A good 8+ years ago this artist with a love for sneakers had the chance many sneaker customizers and general artists for that matter, will never get. In 2005 Josh Wisdumb was commissioned by New Balance to recreate is art on the silhouette of the New Blance 574. The black and white design featuring Wisdumb’s line work released in limited numbers apart of an NB artist series pops up on eBay every once and a while.