Mr. Exclusive Customs brings one of the most hyped shoes a theme based on an album that in most reviews did not live up the hype. Inspired by the first releases of the album artwork and the background from one of his performances Mr. Exclusive themed the customization of this Nike Foamposite Pro based on Kanye West’s Yeezus.
Starting with the mostly white “pearl” Foamposite Mr Exclusive began with dye work on the previously black eyelet panels. Next hand painted white on black crackling a la the first album artwork was placed upon the shoes carbon fiber panels. After that A LOT is going on so in his words here is how this custom from Mr. Exclusive developed:
“While surfing the Net I came across images of Mr. West performing with this giant back drop that looked like ancient Rome. So the wheels are turning and Im like, what does this mean, what does this have to do with the album art. So I stumble across it, finding out that its Athena and Alkyoneus. The summary is Athena battles Alkyoneus in the war of the giants.
The giant is winged with serpentine legs. His mother Gaia rises up from the earth beside him. Athena is attended by the winged goddess Nike (Victory). I was like, Oh S!@#, Nike, hell yeah, but I had to pump my breaks cause I’m like, what dose this have to do with the album art. So I started to wonder who’s split golden head that was on the cover. This I wasn’t too shore of, but the only thing that made since was Attalus I. He ruled Pergamon, a Greek polis in what is now Turkey, first as dynasty, later as king. During his reign, he had coins and structures built with the Greek goddess of war and wisdom Athena. So It was a bit of a reach, but I link the two together to create the theme for the Nike Air Foamposite Pro Yeezus.
The theme tells some what of story, we all ready have the back drop of the album cover art work, and the Athena and Alkyoneus battle, but to make sense of it, the left sneaker tells the story of the rein and power of king. I used 23k gold leafing for the head of the king, then hand-painted pearlized colors for the shading, and hand painted the four panels of the battle seen to accent the glory of the kingdom. On the right sneaker, it represents the fall of the empire with the gold split head that can be seen on the cover of Yeezus original album art.
And the panels of the battle seen are in disarray shown in separation. High Gloss finish was used for the golden areas and Matte finish was used for the marble battle seen. Last but not least, to and texture to the album side of the theme, I added real tape instead of hand-painting it across the back. Accented with his Yeezus signature and mine in his text.”
As with Kanye’s own attention to detail Mr. Exclusive seems to have covered all the bases when it came to this Yeezus themed Foamposite Pro. Give us your thoughts in the comments on whether the right base shoe was used or not. You can check more work from Mr. Exclusive on Instagram: @MrExclusiveCustoms
