Dominic Chambrone aka 'The Shoe Surgeon' is one of the most well-known creators in the custom sneaker world. What began as a humble shoemaking hobby has turned into a full-time career. Relocating to LA, Dom opened up his Surgeon Studios HQ, where he creates and collabs on custom sneakers from Pizza Hut and Ebay to celebrities such as DJ Khaled and Lebron James. He's opened up a school to help train the next generation of custom sneaker creators.
Salvador “Kickstradomis” Amezcua is at the top of the customs sneaker game, with sneakers seen all over the NBA, from the likes of Karl-Anthony Towns, James Harden and Damian Lillard.
Gary Lockwood has always been obsessed with art, hip-hop, and sneakers, and in 2010, he found a way to combine all three passions: mask-making. The artist started tearing apart shoes—from the common to the ultra-collectible—and piecing them back together into ornate, colorful gasmasks. Now, he’s turned his artwork into a business, selling masks to high-profile clients from Method Man to Kevin Durant, and collaborating with companies like Nike, Adidas, and Versace.
Rikki Mendias has always been obsessed with sneakers, and he's spent years cultivating a collection of his favorite shoes. But in 2014, he began to look at his kicks differently: He had more than 150 pairs to his name, but realized that there were people in his community who didn’t have any. So he decided to pack his shoes into the back of his car, drive around Los Angeles, and donate them to people in need.
In 2006, New York City designer Ari Saal Forman dropped a limited run of Menthol 10s, a one-of-a-kind sneaker that drew inspiration from and took a shot at Nike and Newport. Written right there on the tongue, Ari explained that the shoe was “dedicated to the two brands that have taken the most and given the least.” Once the companies got word that the shoe was out, they did everything they could to get it off the market.
Andrea Canziani has the sole pair of a factory defected Nike Air Jordan 1. The defect? An upside down swoosh on the left sneaker. The price tag: nearly $150,000. An error that would seem trivial to most has become a phenomenon in the sneaker world.
The Detroit Piston's Langston Galloway and NBA sneaker customizer Andrew Lewis @andr3wtl let you follow the journey of a NBA player’s customized, game-worn shoe. Go from artist studio to the stadium, and see Langston unbox his new sneakers and hit the court at New York City’s legendary Madison Square Garden for a game.
What began as an small Instagram account in high-school spiraled into a full-fledged business and career for Yeezy Busta — a sneakerhead who, after being gifted a pair of fake Yeezys in 2015, trained himself to became a skilled authenticator of real versus fake sneakers.
Pat 'Bandulu' Peltier made a name for himself by transforming vintage clothing and sportswear into unique, one of a kind garments with hand-sewn paint splatters - a trademark of his style. His work has caught the attention of celebrities and athletes alike, with clients including Drake, Serena Williams, 2 Chainz and more.
Within the depths of Project Blitz, a 4,000+ sneaker store and showroom (online for the public) founded by Dre “Crotianstyle” Ljustina - is a room known as the vault, holding some of the most rare sneakers ever created - from Michael Jordan’s original Space Jam movie sneakers to unreleased Kanye West shoes. VICE took a tour of the vault with sneakerhead and influencer, Yeezy Busta, who gave us the story behind many of the vault’s most priceless pairs.
Colm ‘KidSuper’ Dillane went from selling handmade t-shirts out of his college dorm room to having artists like Young Thug, Lil Uzi Vert, 21 Savage and J Balvin buying up his work. This summer KidSuper had another breakthrough - a solo show at Paris fashion week for his new clothing line. Fresh off the heels of it, VICE met up with KidSuper to profile the days leading into his big NY Fashion show.
The Osiris D3 is one of the most successful yet divisive skate shoes of all time. The shoe was adored by the masses, but was also considered ugly and impractical by many skateboarding purists. It’s unsurprising that the story behind the creation of the Osiris D3 has just as much drama as the shoe itself. VICE met creators of the Osiris D3 to learn how the notorious sneaker came to be and the fallout that resulted in the wake of its success.