Dubai in and of itself is sort of a hybrid city, caught between embracing a massive wave of development and maintaining its cultural heritage as a capital of the Arab world. Touching on that status is this crazy custom design from Nash dubbed the ‘Bedouin’ and produced for the recent Sole DXB sneaker show, which blends the luxurious upper of the Visvim FBT with the retro tech of the New Balance 1500 sole kit on bottom. The result is, as to be expected, pretty unlike any sort of customization we’ve ever seen before, with the cross-branding choices successfully pairing up two totally different footwear fields. Click through for the detailed shots and let us know what you think of the Nash x Sole DXB Bedouin. Photos: Sneaker Freaker
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Eat your sneaker cakes! Most of the sneaker cakes we’ve shown you have been photographed in their complete, intact, ‘deadstock’ form, so seeing it sliced open at the toe-box and revealing the chocolate cake and strawberry icing innards might make your cringe just a bit. This special cake was the centerpiece of the surprise birthday part with a ‘Celtics’ theme, and what better sneaker to use as the model for a cake than the Air Jordan XIII ‘Ray Allen’? Structurally, the Air Jordan XIII is one of the more intricate ones out there, with the funky midsole and dimpled upper, but this one’s done rather handily, even with the ‘RAY’ PE logo on the tongue. More shots of this great sneaker cake after the jump, so take a look and let us know what you think! via beansietime on NT
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Our features on custom sneakers have placed a worthy spotlight on a few artistic individuals who have displayed their handiwork in their sick custom works. Among the ‘elite’ group of customizers is Jason Negron, one individual who has mastered and manipulated the Foamposite as if it were an extension of his own being, but his latest work is a ‘curveball’ of sorts as he makes an attempt at a Kobe custom inspired by one of the most popular Zoom Kobes in history. Here’s a look at the Nike Zoom Kobe VII ‘Grinch’ Custom; using this season’s ‘Christmas’ join as the base, Jason repainted almost the entire shoe, going full tonal neon volt on the upper and, in a nutshell, reconstituting the Grinch colorway on the heel, outsole, the laces, and the Swoosh. The cherry on top is the snake wrapping itself around the Kobe Shozoku logo. No sole-swapping here, but a solid customization on a shoe that is certainly difficult to manipulate due to the finicky snakeskin upper material. We’ve got a detailed look at Jason Negron’s custom Grinch below so take a look and check him out on his Sole Swap Facebook Page or Instagram to follow his work.
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Has there ever been a sneaker cake of a shoe that hasn’t even released yet? While it’ll take some elbow grease to get your hands on a pair of the Air Yeezy 2 once it finally releases (tentatively set for June, but who knows what’ll happen), Eddie and Rich of Cake Doggy Dog answered the prayers of one their clients by creating an Air Yeezy 2 cake sitting above a Kaws-inspired platform. The most impressive part of this project was that the architects of this cake likely had nothing else but pictures on the internet to guide them with the design, and there’s no question that they did a phenomenal job with just limited resources. From the snakeskin detailing on the heel panel to the Horus logo on the tongue, this Air Yeezy 2 cake doesn’t leave a single detail behind, which is a testament to Cake Doggy Dog’s art-driven backgrounds. A gallery of the Air Yeezy 2 sneaker cake is just below so take a look and let us know what you think!
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The Nike Dunk High might be the ultimate team-based shoe, as the most memorable original and Retro’ed set is undoubtedly the ‘Be True To Your School’ Pack. Sneaker customizer Diversitile (who specializes in the Dunk High) takes it to the pro level with his latest Nike Dunk High Customs dubbed the ‘Playoff Pack’; each custom combines the visual elements of basketball like the hardwood graphic on the heel panel and the dotted texture of the basketball at the toe-box and lace-placket, but each pair represents the sixteen NBA teams currently vying for a shot at the Title. These are available now at the Diversitile store, but if you don’t see your favorite team represented, hit up Diversitile directly as he will gladly design one for your squad.
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The University of Oregon has firmly embedded itself into the past, present, and future of Nike as a whole, as the founders of the Swoosh have risen from Duck roots and have established the world HQ just a couple of hours away from the UofO campus. The running and training heritage born from Bowerman and Knight has manifested itself in a ton of PE and special edition releases over the last few years, but we haven’t seen much on the Nike Sportswear side of things – until now.
Jason Negron’s next project was to transform the Nike Air Foamposite One into Duck form, using the Electrolimes as a base and dying the outsole a Oregon green while adding the ‘O’ logo on the heel and the Fighting Duck on the tongue, replacing the ’1-Cent’ logo. Negron clearly has a jump on these creative ideas (remember, before Spike got his Knicks Foams, Jason completed his own Knicks-styled Foam customs), so will we see a ‘Duckposite’ PE in the future? Continue reading for a detailed gallery below and let us know what you think of these customs, and if you want to commission your own pair, hit up Jason Negron directly through his Sole Swap Facebook page.
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Historians will look back on MTV’s Pimp My Ride with favor, not just because of the hilarious Xzibit meta-meme it birthed, but because of the decidedly positive newspeak in its very title. ’Pimp’ has been thoroughly appropriated to mean ‘tricked out’, and in this particular case, we’re talking about a custom sneaker design crafted for an influential record exec. The Pimp My Kicks x New Balance 999 was crafted for RocNation’s Emery Jones with a ‘South Beach’ flavor in mind, and much like the upcoming LeBron 9 Elites by that name, these give the color scheme a new spin opting for a grey base upon which MIA’s famed pastels are placed. Check them out in greater detail along with the sick 1 of 1 laser-etched wooden box and let us know where these rank in the still-growing ‘South Beach’ neighborhood.
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Sneaker customizer (and we use that term somewhat loosely) Freehand Profit has made a name for himself with gasmask versions of popular kicks since we first saw his take on the Air Jordan 1 last April. His latest might be the most obscure design employed to date, the Mighty Crown x Nike Sky Force 88 Lows that commemorated the Japanese sound system’s 20th anniversary last fall. Like the Dunk Highs that accompanied them, Mighty Crown’s Sky Forces were a rich amalgamation of textures, and this mask’s silvery build is all the better for it. Check out more photos below, let us know how these compare to standouts like the Swoosh-browed ‘Galaxy’ Dunk mask and stick with Sneaker News for all the best new customs.
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