In this video, I’m going to show you my top 10 favorite sneakers from my trip to San Francisco.
I had the opportunity to travel up to SF and sit down with guests to design custom sneakers one-on-one. Conga wanted to create a fun, personalized experience for their clients, and custom sneakers were the perfect way to do it.
The guests already had a pretty good idea of what was going on, and a lot of them showed up ready with designs in mind. So let’s count down my top 10.
Coming in at #10 are Ben Adams’ customs. Ben told us he’s a hobbyist woodworker and loves garnet and gold colorways. We worked those ideas into the design, and I thought the wood-grain accents turned out great.
At #9 are Paul Fury’s fishing-themed Nikes. We transformed the Nike Swoosh into a fly-fishing lure, and this is how they turned out.
Coming in at #8 are Jeff Wall’s customs. Jeff is a Pink Floyd fan, and with a last name like Wall, we obviously had to lean into The Wall. We went with a Pink Floyd-inspired theme on a pair of Air Force 1s, finished them off with navy waxed laces, and this is how they turned out.
At #7 are Kareem’s shoes. His family owns olive orchards, so we wanted to pay homage to that part of his story. We incorporated olive branches into the design against a bright blue sky inspired by the Mediterranean.
Coming in at #6 are Kevin Raybon’s customs. This colorway is actually based on a design I created for myself a long time ago, so I was stoked when he chose it. Kevin added his own twist by requesting mountains, and I think it all came together really well.
At #5 are Sherrie Smith’s shoes. She told us one of her favorite things to do is hike at sunrise, so we took that idea and ran with it. This is how they turned out.
Coming in at #4 are Kimmy’s wave shoes. She travels to Costa Rica to surf, so we wanted to bring that part of her life into the design. We transformed the Nike Swooshes into breaking waves, and I love how these came together.
At #3 are Karina’s shoes. She wanted a subtle shoutout to Puerto Rico, and incorporating the Puerto Rican flag into the Nike Swoosh did that perfectly.
Coming in at #2 are Amna’s customs. She told me about the tradition of truck art in Pakistan, where drivers take incredible pride in decorating their trucks with elaborate colors, patterns, and artwork. She wanted to tell that story on a pair of Nikes. This was definitely one of the most unique concepts of the trip, and I loved getting a glimpse into this part of Pakistani art and culture.
And finally, coming in at #1 are Dominic Fury’s custom rainbow trout Nikes.
About 10 years ago, a photo of some fish-inspired Nike Roshes went absolutely bonkers on the internet, and that design changed the way I looked at customizing sneakers. From that point on, the question became: Do I paint the animal on the shoe—or do I make the shoe become the animal?
For Dominic’s pair, we went with the second option. We transformed the entire shoe into a rainbow trout, even carrying the concept all the way through to the fish tail on the heel.
And that’s my top 10 from San Francisco.
Let me know what you think of the list. And if you spotted a pair that you think deserved the #1 spot, let me know in the comments.