JOR ONE'S GUIDE TO CUSTOM SNEAKERS

There is another solution if you won’t be a celebrity anytime soon. It doesn’t even require Phil Knight to come knocking at your door. If you really want to have your designs made, become a footwear designer for a brand.

Yeah I know that opens a whole other can of worms that is beyond the scope of this article, but it’s not as hard as you might think. I didn’t even get close to a degree and I was able to get a job designing shoes. Take a few classes at a fashion/design school and learn pattern making. There are plenty of free resources online that will point you in the right direction. Core77.com has a great forum for aspiring footwear designers and sneakerfreaker.com has a series of interviews with industry folk as well.
On the downside, even the ‘cool’ companies can be very conservative and unpleasant to work for. There’s lame design reviews and you’ll have to spend all day making tedious
spec-sheets in Excel. Flying to China every few weeks to spend the day in hot factories is only glamorous the first time. But hey, you’re making shoes right?

TIP 9: DO NOT COME OUT OF YOUR STUDIO UNTIL YOUR WORK IS THE SHIT. YOUR SHOE DEAL PROBLEM WILL SOLVE ITSELF.

TIP 10: KNOWING ABOUT FOOTWEAR DESIGN WILL HELP YOU MAKE BETTER CUSTOM SHOES.