The shoes we decided to paint are the Giannis Immortality 2 sneakers. If you watch basketball I think this is great sneaker to customize for a few different reasons. Not only is Giannis affectionally known as the ‘Greek Freak’ a great guy, but the shoes have symbolism of a better life themselves. If you take a close up look, the bottom of the sneaker, there are names of his family. His parents Carlos and Veronica immigrated to Greece from Nigeria to provide a better life for their boys. That aligns nicely with Make-A-Wish Foundations mission, and that’s why I like these shoes.
For the design, we decided to paint our signature prism design on the heels. The toes of the shoes feature Giannas Antetokounmpo’s number 34 and the star from the Make-A-Wish Foundation logo will crown the Nike Swoosh. If you want to contribute to this cause, you can head over to Wish.org and make a donation.
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Stevie's favorite colors are red, black and GOLD. We sat down with Stevie to decide what panels we wanted the design on. We put #1 on the heels and his Instagram handle @lil.stevies.world on the heels.
We are excited to watch Stevie's wresting and Jiu Jitsu career progress and see him on top of more podiums.
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We decided to put the band name New Edition on the outsides of the shoes in a repeated pattern. The insides of the shoes featured all the band members names.
And of course since Cool It Now was this fan's favorite New Edition song, we put that on the shoe too.
Interested in getting some custom made kicks? Please submit a custom order form here: https://bstreetshoes.com/pages/custom-order-form
]]>If you own a company, can you get Nike to make you custom branded sneakers? Keep reading for the answers to these questions.
Occasionally Nike does team up with different companies for a collaboration. Some notable examples would be the on-going collabs Nike has done with the clothing companies Stussy or Off-White.
There are a lot of steps to get though for Nike to make you a run of sneakers. They don't need the money. So the partnership better help their branding. A good example of a collaboration done helping Nike with this branding is the Nike Dunk project they did with MIA skateshop.
But how can you have some custom Nikes made with your company logo on it? That's when you enroll the help of a company like B Street Shoes.
We team up with your company to custom create Nike Dunks, Nike Air Force 1s, Jordans and many other style shoes. See some of the examples below of the custom branded Nikes and Jordans we have created.
Interested in working with us on something custom? Please submit a custom order form here: https://bstreetshoes.com/pages/custom-order-form
]]>At B Street, we are fans of Jada Henderson, owner of Jada From The Block. Jada teamed up with Intuit Quickbooks and Fox Sports to create some unique 1 of 1 cleats for their commercial that was shown to millions of viewers.
The custom painted cleats featured the Intuit Quickbooks logo, some fun football plays X O X O, the FOX sports logo and their mascot Cleatus.
The commercial was great, and the cleats were amazing! Watch the commercial featuring Jada and the custom cleats below.
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Here is a look at some of the customized golf shoes we have worked with her on over the years. 2020:
2021:
2022:
2023:
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Interested in getting some custom sneakers for your wedding? Fill out a custom order from here >>> https://bstreetshoes.com/pages/custom-order-form
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Reach out to B Street Shoes for Custom Nike Sneakers HERE.
But there are some large drawbacks. Especially for people and organizations trying to order in bulk. It is impossible to design the shoes on the Nike By You website and order for a large group. Corporate sneakers, branding & Merchandise companies, Promotional Product companies, bridesmaids and groomsman parties are groups that have expressed interested in getting custom sneakers from Nike using their Nike By You service.
Perhaps Nike doesn't want to inadvertently want to have different brand's logos on their sneakers. Perhaps they don't have the technology to print brand logos on the leather. At the time of this writing, the only way you can get words onto the sneakers is the stitching on the back. And the characters are limited.
Restocking shoes on Nike By You has almost become a major pain point. Although Nike has expanded customization offerings, they still are known to remove options at the worst times.
But what is the most troubling part about using Nike By You? To us at B Street Shoes, the answer is clear. The limited color pallets. If you have a company with specific colors, this is a non negotiable.
We have been contacted by countless companies that tried to customize sneakers using the Nike website, but couldn't complete the process. That's where the team at B Street Shoes comes in and saves the day. We offer a full creative service that begins with a discovery call and digital mock-ups showing what your sneakers can look like. Then we custom mix paints exactly the specification of your desire.
Over the past 13 years the team at B Street has customized more than 20,000 pairs of sneakers for individuals and brands. Interested in getting something custom? contact us here >>> https://bstreetshoes.com/pages/custom-order-form
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Checkout the video we made showing the project:
]]>We recently customized some cowboy boots starting with an all white base. We went for a unique paisley pattern that actually changes from the bottom of the shoe to the top. We made two different versions of the boot. The first one with a blue and white color way seen below, and a silver/blue/white color way seen at the bottom of this blog post. Which one is your favorite?
The technique we used when painting this was a combination of airbrush paint paint brush. For the white/blue combo, we masked off everywhere what was to remain white with masking tape and vinyl. We used a Silhouette Cameo to cut the paisley vinyl to preserve the white. We also cut out the black lettering.
For the silver edition, we hand painted in the silver in with a paint brush using silver Angelus paint.
Interested in getting some customized cowboy boots or other sneakers? Submit a custom order form on our website. Let's talk!
]]>Millions of children in the U.S. don't have stable housing, and their families lack sufficient resources to meet all their basic needs. We partner with schools across the country to get new athletic shoes to children experiencing homelessness.
Soles4Souls has the Shoesday goal of $100,000 - enough to provide brand-new, name-brand athletic shoes to 5,000 kids experiencing homelessness. Every $20 donation to Soles4Souls provides a pair of new sneakers to a child experiencing homelessness. Donate here: https://soles4souls.org/?form=give
]]>One of the most popular attractions was the custom painted denim jacket activation hosted by North Six. Artist team B Street lead by Blake Barash custom painted more than 350 denim jackets generously donated by Abercrombie.
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The CloudKettle brand has unique blue colors that worked well as a custom color way for sneakers. The dark blue complimented the light blue very well. We added in white on the shoes to give them a dreamy cloud affect. The MVP on the initials were painted custom for someone special in the company. Take a look at the pictures below and let us know what you think! If you're interested in discussing custom sneakers for your brand, you can contact us >>> HERE.
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Dave Chappelle, Richard Pryor, Patrice Oneal. Some of the great comedians with specials that will live on far into the future. These are some of the larger than life comedians that have inspired Nimesh Patel. Hailing from New Jersey, Nimesh Patel has a humor than can appreciated by fans around the country. The best part, he's a sneaker head. We teamed up with Nimesh to paint custom Nike dunks. Checkout the YouTube Video we made showing the story behind these custom Nikes here:
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Interested in discussing a custom project? Please submit a custom order form here: https://bstreetshoes.com/pages/custom-order-form
]]>Many corporations have reached out to brands like Nike and Adidas asking if they can get custom branded sneakers manufactured. It seems like a win-win. Nike potentially makes a lot of sales. And the company get to have some really cool unique shoes.
But the branding machine at Nike does not work like that. Every artist or company that has their name on a pair of Nikes and Jordans has been carefully curated by Nike themselves. Brands like Stussy, Tiffany and Jarritos have all done collaborations with Nike, making co-branded shoes. Although these sneakers were produced in limited quantities, they were made to the public through a lottery system.
This is where the team at B Street Shoes has operated at strength over the last decade. We have helped companies achieve getting custom Nike and Jordans without having to go though Nike. And we have had a blast doing it. We have done it so well in fact, that Nike has even become one of our clients. We help clients though the entire life cycle of the collaboration from sneaker design ideas to purchasing and delivery.
There are a few things that sets the team at B Street Shoes apart from the rest. Continue reading to see how we operate and how we might be able to work with you.
Brands generally have a vague idea of what they want their custom branded sneaker to look like. But they often have questions like:
What would be the most popular base shoe for their desired project?
What are the design possibilities?
Zoom calls and design consultations is what we do best. We love designing custom sneakers. We look at a blank shoe as a canvas ready to be painted. Nike Air Force 1, Retro Jordans, Air Max, Stan Smith, Vans and Converse. We have done it all. Our team of artists are ready to execute on the design we have agreed upon.
Below is an example of the types of designs we present to the client. Often times this is after reviewing a brand deck for guidelines and inspiration.
And we must say, this is one of the most fun parts. We love figuring out how to translate a brand's imagery onto sneakers. Visually telling a story though sneakers is our passion.
Creating custom shoes is a unique endeavor that can be tackled using different methods. The problem Nike and other sneaker brands face is whenever they want to create a new shoe style, a certain large number of shoes need to be produced and sold to be profitable for the company. Which means, even if a Fortune 500 company approaches a company like Nike for 1000 pairs of shoes, it still would not be profitable for the shoe brand to produce. This is where B Street Shoes shines. We are able to take on smaller orders that a company like Nike or Adidas would never be able to entertain.
B Street Shoes specializes in hand-painting custom shoes. We use special leather paints that soak into the pores of the leather. After 24 hours of drying time, the paint becomes permanent and never comes off.
Our team has produced orders of more than 1000 pairs of shoes with a quick turn-around time. Since we are painting onto shoes that have already been produced, this speeds up the production process. No waiting for shoes to be assembled in China. No waiting months for shoes to be delivered by boat from overseas. We source shoes that are widely available in the United States. The most common shoes we currently paint on are the Nike Air Force 1 and the Retro Jordan 1. And although this usually means paying retail price for the base shoe, it's the easiest and fastest way to get the shoes in our Shoeido to begin the project.
We hope to work with you and your team to create custom sneakers. We find nothing better and more fulfilling than envisioning a custom branded shoe from the ground up.
If you are interested, please fill out a Custom Order Form HERE >>> https://bstreetshoes.com/pages/custom-order-form
We look forward to collaborating!
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We decided it was time to make some custom Hasbulla NOBULL sneakers. Checkout the pictures below and let us know what you think!
Looking for a custom pair of sneakers? Contact us >>> HERE.
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Clinique used this weekend to drop some new products. People from all over the country descended on this party and using some of the Clinique products was a fun part of the activities. Other things included a DJ, open bar, swimming pool, and a massive lawn area where you could lounge on couches under trees. Perfect for hot days.
Hydration was the theme of the party. Clinique made sure everyone was gifted their new skin hydration products, custom branded Clinique towels and tote bags. One of the major attractions of the party was team B Street custom painting water bottles for the guests. The bottles were embellished with pictures and the guests initials.
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1. Easter Jordan 4
2. Yeezy Utility 500
3.Tie Dye Yeezy Boost 350 V2
4. Yeezy Boost 350 Pastel Prism
5. Easter Vans Old Skool
6. Custom Nike AF1 for Ryan Bergara
7. Easter Jordan 1
8. Pastel Nike AF1 Low
Jordan 1 Pastel Sneakers
Are you looking to discuss getting some custom sneakers? Contact us >>> HERE.
]]>For the base shoes we used the Jordan 1 Low, Jordan 1 Mid and the Jordan Retro 1 High 'Patina.'
Checkout their branding and how we we translated their bespoke designs onto these custom sneakers.
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Never in 1 million years did I think my job would be to blend streetwear culture in fashion with "boring" industries that had nothing to do with streetwear. But here I am in my 30s and companies now pay me and my team to put these dreams to work. I've worked with some of the worlds biggest companies, like Amazon, Netflix, Twilio and McAffee. Whether these companies specialize in software or e-commerce, they have one thing in common. They want to be cool. They want their team to have pride in the brand. Nike does a lot of collaborations with companies, like Stussy, Fragment and Drake. But you don't see Nike doing collaborations with software companies. That's where I come in my team and I dream up different design ideas. What would Netflix NIKE AIR FORCE 1 look like? What would Bacardi Jordans look like? What would Pella Jordan 3s look like? That's what you're seeing in this video. We took the yellow and black Pella branding and made some custom Bella 3s. Check it out below >>>
Interested in some custom Sneakers? Reach out to us >>> HERE.]]>As a real estate agent, one of the best ways to leave a lasting impression on your clients is by giving them a closing gift. A closing gift is a way to show appreciation for their business and to celebrate the purchase of their new home. Not only does it demonstrate your gratitude, but it also helps to foster a strong and long-lasting relationship with your clients. Often times, realtors build close personal relationships with their clients. Working with clients in what can be an emotional endeavor often leads to strong friendships that can be solidified with a unique closing gift.
Real estate transactions can be a stressful experience for buyers and giving a closing gift are a way to show that you care about their well-being and that you appreciated working with them and getting to know them.
We have worked with many real estate agents in the past, and we feel custom sneakers is a good way to differentiate yourself from other real estate agents. Lots of buyers these days are sneaker heads and realtors are in a prime position to see the style of buyers and see if they would be a good fit for custom sneakers.
Take a look at some of the custom kicks we have been commissioned by realtors for clients in the past. Interested in getting something custom?
Contact us >>>>> HERE.
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Are you interested in having custom sneakers painted as a brand activation? Contact us through our website here. >>> https://bstreetshoes.com/pages/custom-order-form
]]>But as the years go by I've come to realize this question is usually vailed with what came first, the chicken or the egg? It's a niche thing to be painting shoes. So without articulating it, people wonder, did I have an audience and get into painting shoes, or did I get into painting shoes then build an audience? People want to know, was there one big break like painting custom shoes for a celebrity, or was the business of customizing sneakers built little by little?
In this article I'll explain how I passed $1,000,000 in sales of custom sneakers without a huge audience, and how you can do it too.
1. Focus on your building a good product, not a big audience.
Sometimes sneaker artists DM me on Instagram and ask me to repost their work. They tell me they're "trying to get more known." I click on their profile and notice they have only painting a few pairs of shoes. Or even worse, they're a private account. If you're starting any sort of creative business, getting some examples up on your social profiles is the first step towards building an audience. Without this, potential followers will lose interest and click off your page quickly. The sooner your page can get filled with art, the sooner your audience grows.
At the time of writing this I have more than 2,970 Instagram posts. That's years and years of painting custom sneakers and posting them for people to see. When people click over to my page, whether they're a sneaker artist, or looking to buy some shoes, they're going to scroll for a while. This increases the chances of someone hitting that follow button. For every piece of art that goes up on your page, you can count that as earned audience in the future. There will people that are drawn to different pieces of art on your page. So creating a variety of art will attact a variety of views .
2. Get found by the people who are searching for you.
The Internet is a Massive Place. People have become more comfortable with online shopping every year. Building relationships with people online is now normal. Following your favorite celebrities, coworkers and people you admire is something everyone does. With access to the entire world from your mobile phone, searching for something unique is easy.
Getting a bunch of unique custom sneakers designs on my social media accounts, website and other platforms became top priority when starting out. I wanted people searching for custom sneakers to find me. This seemed easier than selling to people who were following me. It's the same exact reason why you want to show up higher on Google than Facebook. Facebook is people scrolling, Google searches is people with intent to buy. This is how you make money as an artist with no following. People searching for something you make.
3. Cultivate Relationships
My friend Javier got a job as a graphic designer at the Beverly Hills Print Shop. They made business cards and flyers for local businesses. They had been in business for more than 25 years. When I asked Javier how they got business, he told me they had repeat customers that kept coming back year after year. The Print shop had no social media presence, had a basic website and spent almost no money on marketing. But they offered a good service which caused their customers to keep coming back.
I tell this story because it shows the importance of making friends with your clients. If they spent money on your art once, they will do it again. For my custom sneaker career, I've tried to think about how I can offer personalized products to my repeat clients rather than finding new clients. After a few years, of building relationships, building a social media audience became very low priority.
I hope you found some value from this post. If you're interested in seeing more behind the scenes of my custom sneaker business, subscribe to my YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGuK4EMnJEs6FlMfTGsARzA
]]>My team and I have had the opportunity to travel all over North American painting sneakers for major companies like HBO, Target, Amazon, Netflix, RedBull, Corona and many others.
We have painted custom shoes for celebrities like Kevin Hart, Snoop Dogg, Taylor Swift and even President Biden. I've cracked the code on how to get these clients and I wanted to write this blog post on how you can too. Over the last 10 years I've learned a lot of lessons that I wish I had known sooner.
1. There Are Not Enough Sneaker Artists in the World
From a pure mathematical stand point, there needs to be more sneaker artists to keep up with the demand. Demand for customized shoes FAR OUTWEIGHS the amount of shoes skilled sneaker artists can paint. We cannot keep up with the demand. And I only see this situation worsening for buyers, but being a huge opportunity for artists. There is a major gap in the custom sneaker industry that not even Nike can fill.
There are stencil cutters, airbrushes, and vinyl transfers that can help assist customizing a large amount of sneakers. But there really is no single great option for getting a lot of custom sneakers completed in a short amount of time. Painting custom sneakers is worlds away from other customization industries like screen printed t-shirts. That industry is very standardized and can reasonably scale up to take orders of 1000s of garments at a time. Time after time, I've seen sneaker artists and other artists for that matter get attention, get orders, then suffer from success because they can't keep up.
Let me explain. If there is a company that needs 100 pairs of custom Nike Af1s, where can they get those shoes? Assuming they want their company logo and company colors on the sneakers, where do they source these shoes? Nike By You is good for some things, but they have limited options. And they won't do logos on the shoes. You could try to have them manufactured overseas, but then you're essentially working with a foreign factory to make fakes. Contacting someone to create the shoes for you from the ground up, someone like The Surgeon is an option if you have thousands of dollars to spend per pair.
This is where B Street Shoes has found an opening to offer a service to our clients. We have proven our ability to fulfill large orders of custom painted sneakers. Our team is divided up so that 2-3 of us answer emails and do creative consulting. 2-3 of us paint sneakers and 2 of us ship product and capture pictures. And we realize how much work this is. Depending on the size of the order, we would need to add people to our team. Which is why I say There Are Not Enough Sneaker Artists in the World.
2. Getting The Sale and Not Charging Enough Is More Dangerous Than Quoting High and Not Getting The Job.
This could possibly the toughest lesson learned. Painting shoes takes a while and things don't always go as planned. And whether you're airbrushing or using a paint brush, there is always clean up to do. Taking excess paint off the midsole, making sure there is no overspray on a logo, painting your edges, all these little things add up in a BIG time-consuming way. I've learned some tricks to speed up the process over the last 10 years, but the biggest lesson learned is not give discounts to get the job. Never under value yourself. If you're not making money, you're losing money. You could essentially be paying your client to make them shoes!
If you stand firm on your price and the client says that's out of the budget, you have 2 options. 1. You could simplify the design and give them a price counter offer. 2. You tell them once they increase their budget to reach back out. This will now free up time that you can work on something else. Possibly a new client will pop into the picture that actually has a budget you can work with.
It will be painful to let a client go. Especially when you want the job and they want the custom shoes. But saying NO to jobs that don't feel right will be the biggest driver of personal and professional growth. I was recently inspired by Ten Hundred saying no to commissions.
3. You Can Get Celebrity Clients
One of the questions I answer the most from up and coming sneaker artists is "how do I get more clients?" The answer isn't as obvious as it seems. The majority of clients I have painted custom sneakers for have reached out to me. How did this happen? It's because they found me on the internet. How did the find me on the internet? Because I had a website with stuff posted on it. I had social media with stuff posted on it. I think a lot of people think there is a silver bullet to getting an insane celebrity client list. Should I send shoes to celebrities? Should I reach out to them over Instagram? Should I make a pop-up shop or display shoes in a boutique? Should I go to Sneaker Con? While all these are great ways to build your career and network, the simple act of documenting your work and showing it to people online is the number 1 thing you can do to super charge your custom sneaker career. Yes that takes the most work. But really it's the most fun. You actually get to paint shoes and be creative. When I became aggressive about posting all my customs on my website, emails from celebrities and other big clients started rolling it.
I hope you guys got something out of this blog post. There really is more people that want custom sneakers than artists to paint them. Once I realized this, I decided it was my mission to help other sneaker artists level up their career and make the life of their dreams. Secure the bag. If you get an amazing custom sneaker gig, all power to you. It's not a zero sum game. We're a small family and I want to see everyone succeed.
And of course, if you want to hit me up for some custom painted sneakers, please submit a custom order from HERE.
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Interested in getting some customized wedding shoes? Send us a message HERE.
Below I'm going to show you 3 pairs of customized wedding sneakers that had a lot of symbolism and took the meaning of custom painted wedding sneakers to the next level.
Starting with these custom wedding Jordans for Trista. She provided us with an inspiration board showing the colors of her wedding.
We were able to pull colors from the swatches provided. We understood the overall vibe from the wedding inspo board Trista gave us. We even made a TikTok about these custom sneakers being created!
These custom Jordan Centre Court sneakers were for a buyer named Anna who wanted to surprise her fiancé. Putting their Monogram, name and date on the shoes was top priority. we decided to run with the gold theme. Something Anna wanted on the shoes MRS with the Nike Swoosh on the tongue like the retro Jordans. The only issue was, the jump man logo was already on the tongue and we didn't want to disturb that. We decided the next best thing was to create a leather hang tag completed with a gold chain.
These Jordan 11 Sneakers you see below list the places of where the couple met, where they had their first date, where the groom proposed and finally where the wedding took place. These simple shoes were packed with symbolism and allowed the couple to be taken through the journey with just a couple simple lines.
We have painted a bunch of different wedding sneakers and most of them can be viewed on Instagram.
Interested in getting some customized wedding shoes? Send us a message HERE.
]]>For the past 5 years I have done a lot of collaborations with companies who want their branding on Nikes and Jordans. My team and I have enjoyed this for reason you might not expect. We have been able to talk with CEOs about their company culture. What makes their team unique? Where would these custom sneakers be worn? At conventions, around the office, maybe not at all?
Other topics we have covered: What does your product do, and why is it special? Who are these custom shoes for? Executive team, sales team, new hires? What's their age range and are they mostly men or women?
That's when it becomes by turn to absorb all this information and translate it visually onto some custom sneakers. On my flight to Miami I got to show what some custom Nike AF1s would look like if I worked with these companies. Enjoy!
Chipotle
The bag at Chipotle is iconic. They have stuck with the typography brown bag for more than a decade. And people love it. Including artists. It's creative, clearly originally created by an artist. As a nod to the Chipotle brown bag, I included that onto the side and toe panels of the shoes. The dark red from the center of the logo made the Nike Swoosh, with the primary red on the other panels. The one thing that I think would add to this Chipotle Concept sneaker is the pepper logo on the heels. And some silver burrito foil!
Walmart
I actually hadn't even thought of doing a Walmart mock up, until last week. We had an enthusiastic employee of Walmart contact us asking what it would take to get some custom Nikes. I was impressed that his loyalty was so strong towards Walmart, that he would be willing to pay out of pocket to represent the Walmart brand on his Nikes. I pulled up their logo and instantly liked the blue/yellow combo. The Yellow 'Spark' logo and a mini Nike Swoosh on the toe take this concept to the next level.
Starbucks
Starbucks, possibly the world's most favorite company. It's said they sell more than 4 MILLION cups of coffee everyday. The Siren logo is iconic and makes a great image to put on the shoes. It fits onto the panels of Nike AF1s in a way that other company's logos do not. I had fun with this one. I couldn't decide if I liked the white or green Nikes, so I am leaving it up to you. Let me know in the comments which Starbucks Nike AF1 concept is your favorite. The Green or white!?
Are you interested in getting something custom from me and my team? Submit a custom order form on our website and let's collaborate! https://bstreetshoes.com/pages/custom-order-form
]]>The pictures below were Nikes made for Phillies fans. They feature the Liberty bell and Phillies iconic red white and blue colors
Next up are the custom LA Dodgers Nikes. The buyer of these was down for the classic gradient and we loved the look with the navy/white combo.
LA Rivals down south, the SD Padres had uniforms this season that were a fan favorite. the neutral tones create a strong contrast with the yellow panels and laces and we love how these turned out.
Which custom pair is your favorite and who is your home team? Let us know in the comments below!
Interested in getting a custom pair? Submit a custom order form on our website and we will get back to you: https://bstreetshoes.com/pages/custom-order-form
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