John Kim 
For the latest Sneaker News Battle of the Customs, we return to a collection of Air Jordan customs that were featured on Sneaker News over the last few years. Due to the popularity of the Air Jordan VI, we decided to let it stand on its own, but this latest battle includes Air Jordans of all types, from the original Air Jordan 1 to the Air Jordan XII. This Sneaker News Battle Of The Customs highlights the creativity of the imagination as well as the paintbrush, and you’ll stand impressed at all of what you see below. Take a look at the ten best Air Jordan Retro customs featured on Sneaker News and be sure to vote for your favorite at the very end.
Designed by: Revive
Using the Nike SB Dunk Low ‘What The Dunk’ as the central idea, Revive used the Air Jordan 1 as an Air Jordan historical anthology, painting segments of the upper with trademark designs like elephant print the ‘graffiti’ like chaotic print from the Air Jordan VIII, and the visible carbon fiber plate from the Air Jordan XII.
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Designed by: Lazy
Kobe Bryant will forever be compared to Michael Jordan, and even if he never does reach MJ level, he’s certainly the closest anyone’s ever been. Sneaker customizer Lazy, who goes beyond simple colorways and into the levels of complete transformation, took the ‘Black Mamba’ approach on a pair of AJ4s, using black denim and black snakeskin, and even went as far as putting the Kobe Shozoku logo on the upper.
AIR JORDAN XII RISING SUN CUSTOMS
Designed by: Intrxn
Do these customs even need an official title? Inspired by Jay-Z, Notorious B.I.G. Elvis, and Alexander McQueen, Intrxn transformed this plain pair of all-white Air Jordans into a moving sculpture that is part art, part Edward Scissorhands.
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Designed by: Dank
We usually take classic Air Jordan colorways and transplant onto Nike shoes, but Dank took the retrograde approach and slapped on a famous Kobe VI colorway onto an Air Jordan III. The execution deserves an A+, but does the colorway work on the Air Jordan III?
AIR JORDAN XI IE LOW ‘BLACK/CEMENT’
Designed by: Kenichi of NT
Elephant print is one of the hardest sneaker details to duplicate, but sometimes, working with what ya got can lead to great results. Kenichi of Niketalk forums took the recently released Air Jordan XI IE Low and used the Black-on-Black elephant print to his advantage, painting the protruding facade a crisp grey while leaving the grooved print all alone. Painting the tongue grey was a nice touch as well.
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Designed by: Scoop
To go where ‘no man has gone before’ is to really stick your neck out and brace yourself for success and failure. Full-3M hasn’t been done on an Air Jordan 1, so up-and-comer Scoop took that idea and ran with it, applying a ‘Dragon’ theme to a prominent portion of the upper.
Designed by: El Cappy
El Cappy’s Air Jordan VI ‘Tokyo23’ was one of the leading vote-getters in the Air Jordan VI installment of the Sneaker News Battle of the Customs, but where will his AJ3 custom land? The Air Jordan III and V couldn’t be more far apart in terms of structural appearance, but tie in together quite nicely with this trademark colorway.
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Designed by: Emmanuelabor
We often tie Air Jordan shoes with specific memories in Jordan’s career. One that stands out as a shining moment not only in Michael’s career but in all of sports is his buzzer beater against the Cleveland Cavaliers in ’89, which was immediately followed by rabid fistpumping by MJ and physical collapse by his defender, Craig Ehlo.
Designed by: Ruben Montes
It’s a simple combination of the original Air Jordan shoe and one of the most culturally relevant video game franchises of all-time. A tonal brown upper with moss green accents paired with the hints of camouflage print on the ankle give these gritty custom sneakers an aura of militarism.
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Designed by: JGoods
Michael Jordan added the fadeaway jumper to his already stacked arsenal when he realized that at 30+ years of age, he wasn’t jumping as high as he used to. JGoods took the Air Jordan XII, which was around the time when Michael began using the fadeaway more consistently, and applied a ‘fade’ gradient on the upper, going from black at the toe to a pure white on the heel.
