Art of Custom Sneakers

July 3, 2023
Kickz (aka Xavier Crews) adapts his sneaker customization YouTube tutorials to the page in his vibrant debut. He outlines how to prepare shoes for reworking, which requires removing the laces, rubbing the factory finish off with acetone, and taping over parts that shouldn’t be painted. Detailing a variety of methods for transforming the look of leather and canvas shoes, he notes that readers can “draw” with paint pens and shows how to use them to make a tricolor camo design or a Pac-Man–inspired maze on black high tops. He also walks through how to add acrylic paint tiger stripes and create a “cartoon” effect by applying white and black lines “near the stitching in different areas of the shoe.” The creative designs wow, especially the “cut paper collage” made by gluing on cutout comic book panels, as well as the marbled effect achieved by dipping shoes in a mixture of leather dye and shaving cream. However, the use of illustrations in lieu of photographs makes it hard to envision what some of the finished products will look like off the page, and several projects require significant artistic ability, such as the “dragon kicks” featuring a freehand drawing of a pink dragon spanning the length of each shoe. Still, sneakerheads will get a kick out of this.

Starred review from October 1, 2023

YouTube influencer/software engineer/sneaker customizer Kickz has put his inspiration, recommendations, and guidelines in a book so that readers who want to follow in his footsteps can create one-of-a-kind shoes too. In the 1980s, custom-designed sneakers were commercially produced for star basketball players, and this became a popular trend. Initially, these fashionable shoes were designed by artists, which meant high-dollar limited editions. Now hand-painted shoes are the craze that fuels the industry. Kickz's book provides its instructions in graphic-novel style illustrations and comic drawings. He encourages readers by telling them that they don't have to be an artist or student of the craft to create a pair of sneakers or two (or several); all one needs is the desire and willingness to learn and to practice different techniques. Kickz also includes a Q&A section that contains his YouTube channel's most frequently asked questions. VERDICT A sure hit. For aspiring custom shoe designers.--Laura Ellis

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