Top 10 custom sneakers
1. Carnimex Wagyu Beef
We first made a bespoke sneaker for Carnimex, inspired by their Wagyu beef and packaging. After getting so many positive reactions, they wanted 10 custom pairs to sell to their customers. Of course, there’s a difference between bespoke and custom, but we tried to keep them as close as possible.
We used the Air Max 1 Summit White as a base, painted the mudguard purple and the U-throat red. The Wagyu Beef logo was placed on the mudguard, the Carnimex logo on the tongue. The eye-catcher is the chef printed on canvas, stitched on the quarter panel after removing the swoosh. To finish it off, we added light blue laces. We’ve made several bespokes and customs for Carnimex since.
2. Variopool
This design came to life during our free design weeks, where companies could request a sneaker concept. Our intern at the time, Nemo, came up with this killer design. Not only were we impressed, the team at Variopool loved it so much they had to order the sneakers.
Variopool makes adjustable floors in swimming pools. That’s why we added a swimmer riding the waves on the shoe. The waves continue onto the heel (mustache) and flow to the other side of the swoosh. Besides the two main shades of blue, we added red accents, like on the mini swoosh and AIR branding on the sole.
3. Dr. Oetker – Big Americans
Ahead of Christmas 2024, Dr. Oetker reached out to make Big Americans sneakers. They used them as a giveaway for their mailing list. The side of the shoe features the Double Pepperoni pizza, printed on canvas. The mustache was painted red and the swoosh was replaced with blue suede. The Big Americans logo is printed on the sole and also on the tongue. The lacelock was made from red suede with a printed star logo, which also appears in blue on the mudguard.
4. Helloprint
These sneakers were made for a trade show in the US. Helloprint had already created a concept: a full-gradient shoe with a smooth color transition. To make that work, we masked off the sole, swoosh, mustache and lining. We then used the airbrush to spray the colors into a subtle gradient. We also masked the Helloprint logo on the side before spraying. After removing the stencil, the white logo remained visible. In the end, we personally delivered the sneakers to their Rotterdam office.
5. Jij en Zij
For Jij en Zij, we made Travis Scott Dunks. We removed the swoosh and filled the old stitch holes to make them disappear. Then we stitched on a new swoosh using a pattern from their brand identity. A bird patch was embroidered on the heel. We used the same pattern on the tongue label and embroidered their logo on it. On the inside, we added edition numbers: 1/10.
6. JBL
For JBL, we created 10 pairs of Air Max 1 and 10 pairs of Air Force 1. We used their main brand colors: black, red, and green. The Air Max 1 Summit White base had a special texture on the mudguard, inspired by speaker mesh. We painted this part black, along with the heel. On the heel we also added the JBL logo in white.
7. Albert Heijn
We made these Albert Heijn Dunks for a store in Belgium. The shoe got a full custom blue color with a subtle fade on the heel. The swoosh features two tones of blue, with a dark outline as a detail. Orange was used as an accent on the tongue edge and collar. A fun fact: every staff role from the store was printed on the outsole.
8. Wemessage
For Wemessage we made this advanced custom in Off-White style. We replaced the swoosh and stitched it on with zigzag stitching. A small orange tag was added too. We made a new tongue from blue mesh, with a wrap-around label on the side. Both the tongue and the lining are made with exposed foam. As a final touch, we gave the sole a yellowed vintage look and stitched the AIR branding on the heel in black. The sneakers came in a custom black magnetic box with branding.
9. FOUND.
This advanced custom includes lots of brand details. Different shapes were applied as leather patches. We also painted several sections and added accent-colored lines for extra contrast.
10. OrangeFit
A recent pair we made for OrangeFit. Their brand color is – of course – orange. They also use darker orange lines in their style, which we brought onto the sneakers. First, we sprayed the whole shoe in light orange with a soft gradient. Then we added a stencil of the lines and sprayed over it using the darker tone. The mustache was painted green and the lacelock was made from green leather.
