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Where has customizing taken you so far?
It’s taken me to some great places. Through customization and our “Customization Kit”, we’ve developed solid relationships with athletes, celebrities and major retailers such as Footlocker and Eastbay. Having Footlocker and Eastbay carry our products is real cool for me because I grew up looking through the Eastbay catalog constantly.
Customizing has also put me in some funny situations. When I did the Cam’ron shoes, I was only 19 and Cam’ron invited me to hang out backstage at one of his shows. He had just been shot a couple months before so he had about six of the biggest bodyguards I had ever seen. I met him at his hotel and he had me follow his crew to the concert venue. By the time I got to the side door, they had already gone in and the venue’s security was guarding the door. As I was walking up, the venue security starting yelling at me and telling me to get away from the door. One of Cam’s bodyguards heard them yelling, poked his head out, and said, “Nah! That’s the white boy who paints the shoes! Let him in!? So the rest of the night I hung out with all those dudes while they were drinking Crystal and picking through groupies.
Where are you hoping it leads?
I just want more people to know about sneaker customization and help bring it to the mainstream. I love when I see somebody use our kit and create something that everybody is asking about, like Andy Oliver’s black Jordan 6s.
There are a lot of artists on the internet doing great work and I’m hoping I can help the whole art form get some more shine. I think sites like Nice Kicks embracing customization is a huge thing for sneaker customization artists. Now, we just need the major shoes companies to follow suit.
What place do customs hold in the sneaker culture?
To be honest, I think a lot of trends in sneaker culture can be traced back to customs. NikeID, mi adidas, and all the other design-your-own-shoe sites have definitely taken inspiration from sneaker customization artists. They’ve been trying to compete so that people looking for something completely original will go to them and not a third party customizer.
As a compliment to sneaker companies, customization allows a person to create a new colorway or take an existing colorway they like and put it on a different shoe. The possibilities are endless and I think on Nice Kicks this year, we’ve seen some exciting creativity on otherwise boring shoes.
What advice would you give someone interested in customizing?
I’d obviously tell them to buy our kit [Laughs]. Other than that, I always tell people to start simple. Like I said earlier, when I first started, I just changed the color on one of my Swooshes. It took about an hour and I had something nobody else had. If you start simple you can create great new colorways and you won’t overwhelm yourself.
How can prospective clients contact you?
They can contact me at [email protected]. For more of my work, check out JGoods Online.
Photography by Corey Gaffer
