Why I Customize

I was talking to a friend the other day and he told me that he had a high respect for customizers.  I wasn't sure why he said that, so I let him explain himself.  He said something along the lines of this:

In today's world of fashion, nothing is unique.  I can buy a generically designed shirt at Hollister, but there's no personality or flair to it.  Why spend $60 on a hoodie with a simple label on it when I could buy a cheaper, plain hoodie for $20 or $10 and have a customizer spruce it up for a little extra?

I think that's why I decided to customize shoes.  I like delivering to people what big companies can't - something personalized and tailored just for you.  I work with you, the customer, to get something that'll satisfy your needs.  I'm sending you progress pictures and designs to update you on the work process.  And when all's said and done, you get a pair of shoes in the mail that will always be unique to you!  And that's a seller / customer bond that a big company could never hope to achieve.

Gurren Lagann Slip-ons!

And here they are, my latest pair!  An awesome set of slip ons from Faded Glory featuring Yoko and Nia from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagaan, the anime that goes beyond the impossible and kicks reason to the curb!  These bad boys will be on sale at NDK, in a cool Men's size 10.

I always loved this anime.  To make a story short, Gurren Lagann revolves around the journey of Simon, an orphaned child and Kamia his self declared big brother.  Both live in an underground village, but Kamina decides to bust to the surface and show everyone that there's such a thing.  It's very optimistic and hopeful and coming from Studio Gainax, There's great animation quality coming out from them.  This show also feels very complete - from start to finish, there's this sense of wholeness like everything that the show throws at you belongs.  And it's really inspiring.  You really have to watch this to see the journeys that all the characters go through.

Pictured on the shoes here are Yoko, the big guns hunter from the surface...

 

... and Nia, a charming little girl from that strange box. 

They're both awesome characters and just as famous as the main male character duo.

These were really fun shoes once I got into it.  The hardest thing was trying to figure out how to put the images on.  Once that was out of the way, these were really fun to do.  Especially Nia's hair - her cloud hair of yellow and blue is just an awesome combo.

I'm hoping you guys enjoy all my work so far!  I'm hoping to get as many shoes done as possible in as many different areas as I can!  Thanks for reading and I'll see you on my next pair!

Di

Next shoe pair is...

Been working on some new kicks, so I figured I should show some work in progress.  Guess the series!