If you could design a sneaker, what would it look like?
In the constantly evolving and expanding global sneaker market we find ourselves consumed by, investing in UNTAPPED, ORIGINAL ideas is significantly more difficult than we may all imagine. But, there is in fact an entire CULTURE surrounding one-off and custom pieces, with a ‘school’ dedicated to just that.
Earlier this year, we visited @LondonSneakerSchool in Stoke Newington for the final night of its four week long AIR MAX workshop.
We caught up with the talented trio @afrokickz, @lab.customs, and @youraverage_sneakerhead who spent their last week crafting a Nike Air Max 1 COMPLETELY from scratch. Although the workshop was intended to cater with any skill level in mind, these students certainly weren’t novices in the CRAFT of shoemaking, sharpening their blades within the studio on materials specifically selected to produce nothing less than a magnificent array of bespoke sneakers.
With all this talk of custom kicks, we thought it was a good time to repost our own creation from the very first workshop at @LondonSneakerSchool. Our appropriately named ‘Horween Beast’, is constructed with a beautiful leather upper produced by the infamous Horween.Co -- a Chicago based tannery that has sold HIGH QUALITY leather since 1905 and is predominantly known throughout the sneakerverse for its use on a high-number, premium New Balance releases.
Our shoe features a predominately tan upper, with black detailing inspired by certain Air Max colourways from the early noughties.