Clash of the Customizers Gallery

[emmanuelabor]

Over the last 8 months, some of the top customizers from around the country and other continents of the world have been competing to decide who is the best of them all. Now that the competition is over, we would like to invite you to see all the sneakers in person as well as other, never before seen, limited custom kicks!

Some of the sneakers will be available for sale starting at as little as $100!

Please come and join us anytime between Dec. 12 and Dec. 27 from the hours of 12pm-7pm

For more information or to place bids, please call: (407) 451-3471 or email at [email protected]

 

[emmanuelabor]

video footage from the opening night:

 

[onhollowedground821]

Id say 80% of that stuff was PURE TRASH, by far I think EL holds it down the best in my mind, but man I feel like something like this should have been doneyears ago when people like Meth, KVN, Retro and Myself where still in it heavy............the old days smh

 

[oo718oo]

hollowed post your work, last time i checked no one remembers it.

 

[emmanuelabor]

Originally Posted by ONHOLLOWEDGROUND821

Id say 80% of that stuff was PURE TRASH, by far I think EL holds it down the best in my mind, but man I feel like something like this should have been done years ago when people like Meth, KVN, Retro and Myself where still in it heavy............the old days smh

theres actually only a few I dont like on any level. There are some I definitely couldnt see me wearing, but I respect the artwork or craftsmanship that wentinto them.

I also wish there had been something like this when the OG's were still doin their thing. I know you guys are the ones that really got me into it heavy,and I havent looked back.

 

[onhollowedground821]

Originally Posted by oo71o

hollowed post your work, last time i checked no one remembers it.

Exactly lol, maybe sometime soon but I got outta posting my stuff because peple would STEAL my ideas and or make fakes of shoes I made.........I got sick of it

 

[onhollowedground821]

BTW who was the shoe Customizer that got that shoe made by Reebok? I hooked him up with that event years Back and he won and had a shoe made by Reebok.....thatwassnt you was it EL?

 

[emmanuelabor]

nah not me....I vaugely remember what youre talking about, but I dont think that guy really does customs anymore

did you get my response about the Supras btw?

 

[onhollowedground821]

Naw I didnt......what did you say, hit me with a PM

 

[jayhawk17]

Originally Posted by ONHOLLOWEDGROUND821

BTW who was the shoe Customizer that got that shoe made by Reebok? I hooked him up with that event years Back and he won and had a shoe made by Reebok.....that wassnt you was it EL?

screen name was: Steppingrazor...on here and Hypebeast(still think he is around there)..worked at some store in Cali called "Versus" Ithink. If you got pics of that shoe he made/Reebok recreated I'd love to have them. I won as one of the runner ups got $250 from Finishline.....I might bebiased but my pair was much better than the winners which looked unfinished.

 

[young safari]

Seems real dope, wish I was in LA as well.

Gotta have one in Seattle, c'mon EL!

- Safari​

 

[nolan3001]

Id say 80% of that stuff was PURE TRASH, by far I think EL holds it down the best in my mind, but man I feel like something like this should have been done years ago when people like Meth, KVN, Retro and Myself where still in it heavy............the old days smh
The good customizers doing it nowadays are better at it than every name you listed.

 

[onhollowedground821]

Sorry but not to pat my own back, but NO........id say almost EVERY single customizer still cant get paint right to this day, too shinny, cracks, doessnt holdup under wear and tear and they dont even know how to prep shoes correctly............better then Meth? SBTG? (retro) that's laughable..........Like I saidI can maybe name a handfull of guys who are doing it and doing it well

 

[emmanuelabor]

retro? like, Retro Kid? he customized? or am I confused?

I still consider Meth the GOAT....even if he really isnt customizing these days(is he?). I feel like he's the one that opened the door, so he gets nothingbut respect from me.
SBTG...I guess I have personal taste issues with his work. I understand having a niche or asthetic or whatever, but I'll just say its been a LONG timesince I really felt any of his stuff. I miss the old Planet of the Apes/Abe Lincoln head/safari print stuff he used to do. all this punk grunge studded beltcheetah print selvedge denim stuff he's been workin the past few years does nothing for me....althought I DID like his Thriller Blazers.
I remember KVN puttin in work cause he wore big sizes so he had to customize out of neccessity lol
and for some reason, I remember Hollowed being a customizer, but the only shoe that comes to mind is some Jordans that were done in SVSM colors? somethingabout you dyeing ice soles of Jordans different colors....but it feels like it was almost an urban legend. Like somebody mentioned some customized J's youwore to a Summit, and there may or may not have been a pic...so its like something I remember hearing about, but Im not sure if I saw them, or just imaginedwhat theyd look like lol

as far as todays current customizers...I wont say any are better or worse, I just think we're building off what the OG's did, and are working to pushthings to different levels creatively and artistically.

 

[nolan3001]

Sorry but not to pat my own back, but NO........id say almost EVERY single customizer still cant get paint right to this day, too shinny, cracks, doessnt hold up under wear and tear and they dont even know how to prep shoes correctly............better then Meth? SBTG? (retro) that's laughable..........Like I said I can maybe name a handfull of guys who are doing it and doing it well
You're mad you never got your shine--I understand. Meth is the originator--no doubt about that. In terms of putting paint to leather though?When was the last time he did that? You didn't mention SBTG in your original post--I got no issues with the quality of his work. KVN did basic colorchanges. Obviously no one remembers any of the work you did. And I'm not aware that Retrokid ever actually customized a shoe.

As an FYI- guys like JGoods, emmanuelabor, and C4 (to name a few--I know there are others just as good) have expanded on the original concepts of customizingby leaps and bounds. And as for this:

id say almost EVERY single customizer still cant get paint right to this day, too shinny, cracks, doessnt hold up under wear and tear and they dont even know how to prep shoes correctly
You literally have no idea what you're talking about. Do you have any evidence whatsoever to back that up? Of course not. Just taking theabove three I mentioned as examples--they've been customizing shoes for YEARS at this point. Do you honestly think they haven't figured out a formulathat overcomes every issue that you mentioned? Give me a break.

You sound bitter as $+%!.

 

[onhollowedground821]

Originally Posted by Nolan3001

Sorry but not to pat my own back, but NO........id say almost EVERY single customizer still cant get paint right to this day, too shinny, cracks, doessnt hold up under wear and tear and they dont even know how to prep shoes correctly............better then Meth? SBTG? (retro) that's laughable..........Like I said I can maybe name a handfull of guys who are doing it and doing it well

You're mad you never got your shine--I understand. Meth is the originator--no doubt about that. In terms of putting paint to leather though? When was the last time he did that? You didn't mention SBTG in your original post--I got no issues with the quality of his work. KVN did basic color changes. Obviously no one remembers any of the work you did. And I'm not aware that Retrokid ever actually customized a shoe.

As an FYI- guys like JGoods, emmanuelabor, and C4 (to name a few--I know there are others just as good) have expanded on the original concepts of customizing by leaps and bounds. And as for this:

id say almost EVERY single customizer still cant get paint right to this day, too shinny, cracks, doessnt hold up under wear and tear and they dont even know how to prep shoes correctly
You literally have no idea what you're talking about. Do you have any evidence whatsoever to back that up? Of course not. Just taking the above three I mentioned as examples--they've been customizing shoes for YEARS at this point. Do you honestly think they haven't figured out a formula that overcomes every issue that you mentioned? Give me a break.

You sound bitter as $+%!.





Calm down bro.....Got my Shine? Bitter? what in the hell?.......This is shoe customizing not life kid and if I wanted shine I would post all theshoes Ive ever done, ask Meth he's seen so many of the "urban legend" shoes I never posted on here because I made them for me not for somebody tosteal my idea or go "ooooo wow" you sound angry bro........I can have my opinion! does it mean Im right in your eyes? No but I can still state how Ifeel.......


I have no idea what Im talking about? I can just look at pictures of a shoe and know it was dne with the wrong paint or preped wrong so dont tell me I dontknow.........who are you captin save a customizer?

And no Retro didnt do shoes STBG had an old account that he posted under retro something or another way back in the day.......like I said I feel about ahandful of guys doing it now days but most just slap paint on (poorly) and call it a day.....you can agree or disagree but I can have my opinion.........andread again I said a hand full of guys I didnt exclude c4 or jgoods I think they are pretty good


EL, I gotta find the pix of the SMSV Jordan XVI's they where green patent and also the blue sole black snake skin XI's........that was so long ago thatit was taken with a film camera then scanned just to post them lol I also have some pictures of carbon fiber 3's I did with thoes pix too.......gotta findthem

 

[benballer]

I might not know much cuz I owned half of methamphibian during the hay day and highlight of Peter's aka Meth's career...
but we made rob aka Hollowed the 3rd member of Methamphibian late in the game because he was so ill with his paint game.

he did things and brought stuff to the table that others couldn't do i.e. jordans painting carbon fiber, I even had this cat freak a pair of perforatedCreative Recs for me....

but as far as skill wise? if Hollowed wasn't in the top 3 or so, then I never had 1800 pairs of sneakers and the world record on ebay for selling them.

respect to SBTG, but there weren't many who hold it down still

rob show them what you got and keep this moving

 

[nolan3001]

Well, Hollowed--you know what they say: show and prove.

As for the rest, I made my point. I don't customize shoes--but I respect the people that do, because I know it take a lot of time and a lot of work. And Iknow there's some guys out there that do it REALLY ##%+%%@ well. I'd recommend lightening up on the %%#+-talking about customizers that haveaccomplished quite a bit more than any evidence says you have.

 

[onhollowedground821]

Originally Posted by Nolan3001

Well, Hollowed--you know what they say: show and prove.

As for the rest, I made my point. I don't customize shoes--but I respect the people that do, because I know it take a lot of time and a lot of work. And I know there's some guys out there that do it REALLY ##%+%%@ well. I'd recommend lightening up on the %%#+-talking about customizers that have accomplished quite a bit more than any evidence says you have.

I dont have to "show and prove" anything, who are you? even if I never made one single shoe I can still have my opinion just like youcan..........Did I hurt your feelings or something?

Just because somebody puts time and work into something means nothing, how many music pages are on Myspace full of nothing but trash, Im sure they put time andwork into it too.......what does that mean? "lighten up" it's you that making an issue out of MY OPINION and dont "recommend" anythingto me kid I can state how I feel and so can you......get off mine Captin

 

[emmanuelabor]

oh yeah...I remember another OG...skywalker I think was his SN? He did alot of sports logo stuff..
Hollowed.....yeah, I remember hearing about blue soles, and green patent lol I know I wanted to see the pics, but I dont think I did. I'd REALLY beinterested in seein the snake skin XI's and carbon fiber 3's as well

as far as painting goes C2, Sekure D, Mizzee and Mache are tops in my book these days. I've seen 3 of the 4's stuff in person on a couple occasions,and Im VERY impressed.
I think there have been varying quality standards lately due to the materials on the shoes. I know GR dunks and forces are super iffy. Thats part of why I gotaway from painting. prepping and painting questionable materials got old quick when I couldnt be sure that the finish would be what I wanted, and that thepaint would hold up. That, and the paint alot of current customizers use(Angelus). Its definitely shiny if you dont add a matte medium or some sort of mattevarnish. I feel like their paint quality has dipped. It seems like the upper echelon painters have been forced to make their own formulas. And now there'sa slower push towards other base shoes...I hear the leather on Supras is GREAT. Like the older tumbled leather Nike used to use on GR's. I hear good thingsabout puma and adidas materials too.


Im currently into things you cant do with paint. I dont feel paint really lets me express what I wanna express through a shoe. Like....the recent C3PO BlazersI did. I originally painted a pair of AM1's gold....but that paint just didnt give me the shine I was going for. Im sure if I'd finished the shoes off,they would have been fine, but I really wanted the shoes to GLEAM, so I started over and went with a gold foil fabric. and again, the materials Nike uses. Itsucks that we have to pay extra for the "premium" materials we used to get for $70-$80

 

[nolan3001]

I dont have to "show and prove" anything, who are you? even if I never made one single shoe I can still have my opinion just like you can
Haha your first post in this thread was talking about what an incredible shoe customizer you were back in the day. How are you not seeing theirony here?

Here's an alternate example:

A: "The music I made back in the day was on par with Prince and Michael Jackson. Music today sucks."
B: "Oh, can I hear some?"
A: "I don't have to show and prove anything, who are you?"

Peace.

 

[onhollowedground821]

Totally feel you EL, if I was able to rip aprat shoes like you I would, but the "look" I was always going for never needed that on any of my shoesand id say 50% of the shoes you make I could never rock but the finished producted is always quality no matter what.

You basically name the same ones I do, I dont see 80% as a far fetched number, out of 100 customs/customizers it's not hard to say only 20 are onpoint.....and I find it funny how Angelus paint has become the standard lol, I remember Meth and I used to tell guys that emailed us to use that since it wasalmost no mix to it other then a little bit of duller so it was easy to use for first time guys......now that company markets it as shoe paint lol

 

[onhollowedground821]

"incredible shoe customizer"..........who the hell said that? i never did, I just said I would pat myself on the back compared to 80% of the stuffand that's true in my book you dont have to agree.........you sound like a mad little kid that is just trying to continue with a pointless conversation,get lost bro when i post any new shoes it's gonna be when I want to, not to proove anything to you or anybody, I do them for ME not anybody else nor do ihave to prove a point.

OK my shoes suck and im horrible and doing them........I still cant have an Opinion? Im sure people loved and hated my shoes when I posted them but I didntcare because they can think what they want........EL Im sure doessnt agree with some of what I say but I dont see him trippin out over it, get over it

 

[emmanuelabor]

Originally Posted by ONHOLLOWEDGROUND821

Totally feel you EL, if I was able to rip aprat shoes like you I would, but the "look" I was always going for never needed that on any of my shoes and id say 50% of the shoes you make I could never rock but the finished producted is always quality no matter what.

You basically name the same ones I do, I dont see 80% as a far fetched number, out of 100 customs/customizers it's not hard to say only 20 are on point.....and I find it funny how Angelus paint has become the standard lol, I remember Meth and I used to tell guys that emailed us to use that since it was almost no mix to it other then a little bit of duller so it was easy to use for first time guys......now that company markets it as shoe paint lol

exactly....it seems like when they started pushing it as sneaker paint, the quality of the paint slipped.

and I know, alot of my work isnt for everybody, but thats what I like about customizing...its not really a mass market kinda thing. I do pairs for otherpeople, but I got into it to do shoes that I'd wanna see made. Its a personal thing. I post to share, but if 1000 people like them or if 1 person likesthem, I still make sure that I like them.

Nolan, I appreciate and respect your opinions. Im with you, I generally can appreciate the time and effort that goes into peoples work. There were only ahandful of shoes at the gallery that I personally would wear, but I felt alot more of them for the art, creativity, or craftsmanship in them. It was crazy tobe there and see non-sneakerheads bug out about the shoes. To see the reactions. to see how certain people loved certain shoes, and other people liked othershoes...the styles and diversity of what people like was incredible to see 1st hand. Some people hated the intricately painted shoes but liked the cleaner,simpler looks and vice versa...one guy seemingly had an orgasm (

) oversome shoes with Murakami imagery painted on them

like I said in the very begining, if youre in the LA area, you should head down and see the shoes in person. they'll be up for a few more days Ibelieve(through the 27th?) It was just the tip of the iceberg. I think an event like this can grow and be huge for the custom shoe "culture". Iknow I would personally LOVE if some of the OG and big names in customizing were involved...even if they dont customize anymore. I know alot of them are thereasons alof of us do this now.

 

[emmanuelabor]

PS. was Ben Baller really in this thread? lol
I assumed he was in General only