Evolved Footwear Custom Shoes: #1 Spot for One of a Kind Light Up Shoes

So...I've worked on about 5 pairs now of these premium Nike Air Max 1s with the quilted leather. This pair though is my favorite of them all using a black on black elephant print, lime green, worn aluminum look on the quilted leather and super bright white light up Air Max bubble. Even more so these might be my favorite EF signature color pair of all time. Available on eBay in size 11 or via my store from 8-13.

Nothing crazy, just trying out a different less busy look at my confusion pattern on a pair of Nike Air Max I's. Pink lights in the air bubble to top them off. Available in size 9 on eBay: HERE or via our store in sizes 8-13: HERE

One of the underground lucrative industries in the world is the reproduction of legitimate products aka the bootleg, fake, knockoff market. Shoes, Nike to be specific, are probably one of the most bootlegged products in the world. You know those sites that sell Air Jordan I-XXX for 79.99? FAKE as silicon calve, butt, or breast implants. What does this have to do with Evolved Footwear?

About 5 years ago or so the people that knockoff popular Nike releases started reproducing a couple popular customizers custom shoe creations. Bringing what was once an authentic Nike shoe customized into a 1 of 1 to the masses for $85.00 instead of the $300, $400, $500 or more the original customer paid. Of course a well versed sneaker aficionado knew they were not real, but sadly the average person has no idea. The craziest thing though is how accurate they are able to recreate originally hand painted graphics simply from taking a photo of the custom shoe from the Internetz. No...they were not hand painting them they were printing them on the fake pleather one thousand times faster than we were painting them in our homes.

As the years passed a customizers work being bootlegged has become sort of like a trophy. A trophy in the form of proof that someone out there recognizes and likes your work enough to spend time recreating it to make more money than we could ever imagine from just one design. My first "trophy" was from my Night Panacea Nike Dunk that I created in the fall of 2007. Later on the Red Bull Energy Drink Nike Dunk I made in spring 2008 was seen online around the end of 2008. They are still all over and have sold countless times on eBay. My third pair I first saw online in early 2009, another horrible attempt, the recreation of my "Pooped on by Pigeons Dunk" that I made in summer 2007.

The main reason of this post was to inform and educate and tell you to not purchase fake shoes. But I would be hypocritical doing so as I hope to obtain at least one of each pair myself someday. Instead of purchasing these fake shoes I'll suggest you support your favorite sneaker brand along with shoe customizers by allowing us to customize authentic shoes for you. Authentic,100% real, customized 1 of 1 is much cooler that bootleg, fake, knockoff trash.

Here is a look at the aformentioned Evolved Footwear customs original photos and their fake counterparts. Some sites even use my original photos as their product display for the fake shoes.

Just a little something trying out a new effect of "Space Junk" on the upper in silver, grey and black to mimic a satellite or something that has traveled through space for years upon years. 1 of 1 size 11. Get them on eBay HERE!

Due to high demand for the "All Black Everything....Almost" Nike Dunk with light up soles I have released a version for public orders: "Stealthly Overt" Nike Dunk. Once again all black upper and color chaning soles but this time a medium grey midsole to break up the monotony of all black.

Available in MENS US size 8 through 13. $425.00

$425 with free shipping in US. International orders add $35.

PURCHASE ONLINE HERE

Here is the full length version of the recent preview video showcasing the "All Black Everything Almost" Nike Dunk custom. Pretty self explanatory after you watch the video, made once again with the services of MTVIDYO.com. Sampled and changed a couple lyrics and used the intrumentals from "Run This Town" with Rihanna, Jay Z, and Kanye West. Simple all black Nike Dunk hi sneaker becomes super complex in miliseconds.

If your interested in a pair email: evolvedfootwear@comcast.net

I've been trying to crank out new customs faster and faster lately. Here is the latest, Nike Air Max 1 "Confusion Streak" in which for the first time I've been able to add the light up effect to an Nike Air Max bubble. The upper I used a rendition of my engraved confusion pattern with black on silver. To accent the pink light up I added a streak pattern in black on pink to the midsole. These are not created for the plain fashion, non-attention-wanting personalities.

Available on eBay in size 10 HERE. Or if your interested in a light up Air Max shoe email me: evolvedfootwear@comcast.net with your request.

p.s. tHiS Is OnLy dA sTaRt yO!

I had been working on the concept for this custom "Ambivalent Orbs" shoe since last summer and finally finished them on a pair of Nike Autoflights. With a flip of the switches the light up orbs on the tongues transition simultaneously through red, orange, yellow, green, turquoise, blue, purple, pink and back through. Each light up orb also has the ability to stick on one choosen color if need be. In a dark situation they really give off a bright glow to the ground in front of the shoes and can still be seen in low light. In the dark photos the "orbs" appear extremely white but in person they give off a bright glow of the different colors as seen in low light of the second photo.

For more information on pricing or to order a pair of shoes with the "Ambivalent Orbs" send any questions to evolvedfootwear@comcast.net

Check out the video skit I made to go along with the shoes with the services of MTVIDYO.com. "Dude", I know, "crazy".

The 5th time better be the charm. 5th time meaning in a row, how many times my Alma Mater Northwest Missouri State University's football team has made it to the Division II National Championship game in Florence, Alabama. Unfortunately the previous 4 trips have been losses. Once again we are playing rival Grand Valley State out of Michigan who we lost to in 2005 and 2006. We were able to beat Grand Valley in 2007 though in a matchup at home in Maryville, Missouri in the bitter cold on ESPN(you could barely makeout my friends and I on ESPN for a couple seconds) though we lost to Valdosta State from Georgia in the championship. Last year Minnesota-Duluth handed us our 4th straight loss. But once again the entire northwest region of Missouri and alumni across the country have high hopes for Coach Mel Tjeerdsma to bring another championship trophy to Maryville. 

To show my support I decided to post up my Bearcat Nike Air Foce 1 custom shoes from years ago that have taken a beating through all the tailgating, rain in Alabama, victories at Arrowhead Stadium, parties galore, and all the bitter cold, ice, and snow Maryville has to offer. As well as a pair of Bearcat cleats that saw us beat rival Pittsburg State once again last year at Arrowhead Stadium.

B-E-A-R......C-A-T-S !!!!!!!! I wish I could make the trip to Alabama. Next year of course!

EDIT- Finally after 4 years of losing we are DII National Champions!

Bonus: Here is a couple articles that were the in school's News and Events and Northwest Missourian about Evolved-Footwear last year! 1 and 2

Here is a look at a recent customer order based off a comic and apparel project they are gradually working on. Using a Nike Dunk Trainer high "mars" and "neptune" were laser engraved and painted along with the matching logo the customer created, topped off with the neon green lights. Here is a look into the concept behind the customer's "Mars Neptune" story:

"Mars Neptune is a character I created for a comic book and apparel line. He is a space traveler who is simply searching for a home. It goes into a deeper idea of self awareness, love, ambition and self morals. He goes to other planets and is an outsider who does everything not to fit in and be associated with the norm. With the idea of being proud of his differences he inspires others to look into themselves and be who they are. But that is his paradox in trying to find a home, he doesn't fit in anywhere (which is why I chose obscure colors). It's kinda tragic and he realizes it everyday. So he belongs to nowhere but space. He has his ship the Mercury Phoenix and picks up other people who don't belong either and they become his crew."

Sometimes shoes with crazy colorways and detailed graphics have no business being worn, but you still want to wear a custom shoe that no one else will have. This is the pair for that situation. Titled "Classic Confusion" I've taken a pair of Premium Nike Air Max 1 and add a rendition of my "confusion" pattern in black/white on the upper. Topped off with a neon yellow pair of laces to keep that pop. But each pair comes with a custom box, 1 pair of black laces, and your choice of any color for a 2nd set of laces.

These are quite affordably priced as well. Check them out in my Store: HERE

Available in mens US size 8-15

So two years ago I created a custom Nike Dunk titled "Pooped on by Pigeons" that was inspired by the New York Nike Dunk SB designed by Jeff Staple. It spiked my traffic after making its way onto the SlamXHype and many other sneaker blogs. 2 years later the shoe has been faked by the bootleggers and made its way on to an artist's Nike Dunk pop art painting. So you could imagine when I say I receive quite a few requests for that shoe, but the base is nearly impossible to find. So I've come to the conclusion of giving others the chance of getting an updated version with a bit of a twist. A bit of a mean, foul, dirty twist.

The poop is more realistic (its still just PAINT), the main colors of the shoe are the colors of the poop. I'm no longer using the work poop, its now shit. And the pigeon images are not so calm looking.

The second version I've titled "Shit on by Pigeons" using a slightly different colorway that's panels focused more on the color of the bird's feces and a bit on the orangish-pinkish color of pigeons feet. The toes are still covered with plops of pigeon crap, but the pigeon images are a bit different. I went for a look that was inspired by the many styles of street art amongst which many pigeons call home. With a stenciled design on the left shoe and a pigeon reading up on the latest volume of "How To SHIT On Humans" on the right shoe. Showing you not just ANY pigeon is talented enough to shit on your shoes. The panels have a look and feel of old urban concrete, pavement, and buildings.

The sequal is topped off with a set of suede Swooshes dyed brown and a pair of light grey Nike SB style laces from FULLYLACED.com.

Only available in my STORE. The base shoe is not that easy to find, so order your pair before they can no longer be found.

Available in MENS US SIZES 8 - 13. Purchase HERE

The "Horizontal Response II" custom Nike Air Max 1 is now available in the Evolved Footwear Webstore. This is the second version of the Horizontal Response pattern which was used back in 2007 on a 1 of 1 pair of Nike Air Max 90s. This time I used a light blue and pale blue speckled background that fades to white near the toes. Topped off with metallic accents on the Swooshes and back panels. Sizes are MENS US 9 through 13 and made-to-order so expect 2 to 3 weeks for your pair to be made.

BUY IT HERE

My round 2 entry to the Clash of the Customizers is finally up. In this second round I am up against customizer SmoothTip out of Atlanta. After the first idea I had planned on a different pair of shoes did not pan out I decided to not just give up and use my first round entry. I had this pair of Clae Blakeys collecting dust on the shelf as well as the desire a few years ago to create a custom shoe with a "shark" theme. Considering these shoes were pretty much the perfect colorway of grey, bone and turquoise I decided to give it a go.

Hand painting a couple different views of great white sharks on the back heels was the first step. Second was creating the look of an underwater abyss as the background of the sharks. Finally I thought about trying another ideaI had for a while by attempting to create the effect of the shoes being wet. So I mimicked the look of water beading up on the toes and lace panels.

There are a couple days left before the votes are totaled but check them out HERE in a 360 degree view. 

Another customer order off the list on a pair of Nike Dunks. I was told to use my creativity and artistic talents and come up with a design. The finished product has no real inspiration, which I've found myself doing the same concpet on a few other designs recently. Finding that sometimes needing inspiration or themes can get repetitive and occaisionally just whatever is created is perfectly fine.  Quick name I gave these was "Blue Moon". Simple "thrash" pattern on the swooshes, fade on the mid panels, white splatter on the back heels, and the usual mid panel lights in light blue. I'll take it.