Air Jordan Archives | Documenting Custom Sneakers

ILLWALKEES: Custom Nike Air Jordan VI “Night Visions”

June 5, 2010

SBTG Custom Nike Air Jordan V “Broken Bones” shoes

April 30, 2013May 19, 2010

Sharp020: Nikeskateboarding.org Custom Nike Air Jordan 1 Carbon Fiber

March 17, 2010February 8, 2010

Last week I posted up a Nike Dunk low by Florida based shoe customizer Sharp020. Once again Sharp020, who exclusively works with “decon-recon” custom shoes created a design based on his original project concept with NikeSkateboarding.org but this time on a Nike Air Jordan 1. Sharp020 came back with the kelly green accents and sun burst mid panels but for the first time he used a real suede as opposed to the sythetic suede he used on his shoes before. As if the suede was not enough, carbon fiber textured material was used to give the back uppers a bit more detail to go with the contrasted green stitching against black and silver panels. The end result is a super sleek futuristic look at one of the most classic timeless sneakers of all time, something the original company Nike Jordan Brand has trouble creating. Good work Sharp020. (hands clapping)

Get your own pair at Sharp020.com

air-jordan-nsb-sharp020-1

Clash of the Customizers: Red0004 vs. emmanueLabor

August 9, 2009

Story behind Dunk Force 1’s by The Sole Seeker

July 31, 2009

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.

emmanueLabor: Air Jordan Space Jam Air Force 1 aka Air Force 11

July 30, 2009

Arguably the greatest Air Jordan has yet to be truly bastardized and run into the ground by Nike/Jordan Brand. The silhouette is a classic defining shoe for the brand and greatest basketball player of all time. Recently from either their own imagination, mere coincidence, or because they copied the idea from customizers Jordan Brand has been combining or fusing “Air Jordan Fusions” with Nike Air Force 1’s. Despite the usual ugliness the shoes have sold. Which leads back to the greatest Air Jordan, the XI which have yet to be put into the extremely innovative “Fusion” form. Once again the customizer beat the big boys.

emmanueLabor recently finished up a take at what a Air Jordan XI/Air Force 1 Fusion might look like. And he did superb work keeping the major design elements of the XI and the AF1 intact: panels, tongue, curve of the patent leather, clear soles, and JUMPMAN JORDAN tags on the tongue. At the same time he put in some flare using a 3m reflective upper instead of the ballistic mesh. But if you want a pair he can do you up using that same ballistic mesh. A “Concord XI” is what I wanna see.

emmanueLabor’s MySpace