Custom Kicks: Personalized Footwear

Customizing is hot. Everything can be customized, from pimped cars to retro furniture. This major trend is especially popular in footwear. Customizing your own shoes is a way of stepping out of the crowd, of showing your personality. Just about every sneaker brand has found a way to put street art into its products; rain boots have never been more hip; and there are even customizing festivals and exhibitions. Showcasing the work of 150 artists and illustrators who have been invited to show/create customized shoes, the book will appeal not only to sneaker freaks, fashion fetishists and trend watchers, but also to the graphic design and art audience. The text examines the trend and asks: How did it start? What materials do the artists use? There are also tips and tricks on how to create your own unique shoes.

MAKI is a small design and illustration studio based in Groningen, Netherlands, run by Kim Smits and Matthijs Maat. Besides customizing their own sneakers, MAKI work for a variety of clients including magazines and many t-shirt companies around the world. In 2007 their first children's book will be in stores as well as their own shoes and a children's clothing line.