supra skytop
Supra Tip Pack
Every season now Supra drop 6-8 packs, teaming up 3 silhouettes with the same dope colour way.
Its a cool system thats seems to be working for them, and it also helps people identify with the latest drops.
This pack is called the ‘TIP’ pack and it features the Supra Skytop III, Supra Vaider & Supra Stacks (TK Low)
Personally, i’m really into this black/gold colour way. It’s subtle, the gold fleck just adds a little sparkle like a 3m. It’s dope!
Supra Skytop III
Supra Vaider
Supra Stacks
Supra Green Gunny TUF Pack
This beautiful pack from Supra Footwear dropped this week. It’s the Supra Green Gunny TUF Pack and the silhouettes wrapped in the green tuffness is the Supra Skytop & Supra Thunder.
I’m sure your pretty familiar with both the Supra Skytop & Supra Thunder so I wont bore you with basics, and besides the images do the talking!
Both the Skytop and Thunder have Supra TUF uppers which means they are water resistant and scuff proof. These can stand nasty weather and some heavy usage and Autumn normally brings a bit of both.
The Burgundy pops look dope, and the off-white side walls will hide the dirt. Wear them and enjoy them!
Clearly I’ve got green on the mind at the moment, I do love a bit of Green!
Kobe & Lebron hit the Nike Air Force 1
As everyone knows 2012 is a big year for Nike (40th Anniversary), plus theres the EURO 2012 Football Champs, and the Olympics so there’s a lot of product stories to shoe-horn in.
One of the main stories is Kobe & Lebron James coming to London as part of the U.S. Olympic Basketball team. To celebrate this fact they have let the two of them loose on the Nike Air Force 1!
This could have ended in disaster, but Kobe & Lebron have been designing colourways for several years, and they’re getting pretty good at it!
And this is what Lebron James came up with….
Overall, these premium Air Force 1′s look pretty dope, my favourite would be the Kobe because the surface print looks really nice. Lebron has clearly taken influence from Supra, the upper is like a waxed full grain leather they would use for a Supra Skytop.
What do you think?
Our experience of the Supra Skytop III
We’re chuffed because the long awaited Supra Skytop III has final landed on our shelves!
To start with we’ve got three colourways, and they are the TUF White, Black Nubuck and Grey Suede…..Red & Blue Suede will follow later in the season.
Right, so what are people saying this this hyped release?
The feedback we’re getting is nothing but good, all our customers have been extremely complimentary and have been snapping them up in big numbers.
It’s priced around £100 depending on the upper, but the extra comfort with the heel capsule, and the general build quality, people are more than willing to pay a premium price.
Regarding the looks people have picked out where Chad Muska might have gained his inspirations and that is in the direction of the Air Jordan 11 (Toebox), Air Jordan 6 Retro (Heel Pull), Nike Presto (Eyestay Ribs) and the Jordan 5 Retro (Top Eyelet).
I’m actually rockin’ the Black Nubuck and the fit is slighly narrower than a standard Supra Skytop, but the comfort is on another level. It’s so good!
The only questions left to answer how well they wear, will they handle the hectic city lives we all lead, or will they grow old disgracefully. We will be revisiting the Supra Skytop III in November to see whats happened!
If you see other sneakers within the Skytop III design, be sure to leave a comment.
See the whole FA11 Supra Range
Where is Qustom Queen?
Customizing used to be so much fun. Other than some scars and sleepless nights, there was nothing negative about it. I was doing something that I loved and was making money on top of that. I had excuses to travel and meet amazing people and even won an award. Customizing has given me some of the most fun I have ever had, and all sorts of people took an interest in me. Did I mention I designed a pair of shoes for JayZ and was interviewed by Trevor Nelson? Yet, with all of these achievements, I grew tired of it.
I started feeling very burned out last spring when I had just taken on the task of training as a photographer (I can’t paint shoes forever, right?) and was juggling my training, work, customizing and my then hectic home life. My waiting list was two months long, and looking back, I should have taken a break after clearing that, but got snowed with the usual Christmas orders of names on shoes and cartoon characters that often get ordered round that time. Not what I usually like to produce at all and it became a bit of a chore.
Customizing had turned in to a money making machine, which on occasion, did not live up to its namesake. I had lost almost all passion I had for it and was exhausted trying to fit it in around my life instead of incorporate it as part of my life. The quality customers and ‘sneakerheads’ were few and far between and I was receiving messages from prospective customers trying to get customs for sub £50 (including the shoe!).
Another thing that got me down was the continuation of the amount of counterfeit versions of my work there was out there. And I don’t mean other artists copying my designs, I am talking about mass production of fake Nikes & Supras with my designs on them coming out of China. The first pair that was brought to my attention was the Hunter V Hunted Supras. I actually saw that as a bit of an achievement, being recognised enough to be faked, but then more and more designs started to show up on various counterfeit websites, my MJ Supras were completely bastardised. Then the sneakers I made for JayZ’s friend and colleague, Memphis Bleek were bootlegged too. I gave up looking at fake sites a while ago because it upset me to think about the kids working in sweatshops for long hours putting together ‘my’ designs, and the money the exploiters were making out of this.
As I type this, I realise that I have not updated my once thriving facebook page (www.facebook.com/QustomQueen) with any new work in almost a year, only a few customer orders which have either been seen before, or are not worth much of a mention. The page is littered with status updates suggesting a comeback, but as much as I would have liked to, I just couldn’t do it. After Christmas, I decided to put my brush down for a while and have a well earned break from it all and concentrate on my photography training. I am glad that I have been keeping busy with something creative rather than an office job, and have a few weddings under my belt already. So far in the first half of this year, I have completed TWO pairs of customs only. I used to do on average two pairs a week.
I miss customizing and the passion I once had for it. I even miss the stench of acetone and the sores I got in my nose from inadvertently inhaling the fumes of industrial adhesive. My cupboards are still full with base shoes I have hunted down at various points over the past few years, and are now not only waiting for the right idea to be picked out, they are waiting for a return of my old attitude. As am I!
Some things will have to change if I am to avoid a repeat of this mindframe I seem to have fallen in to. I am going to have to mentally go back to basics, back to the days of posting a pair of freshly painted customs on a forum back when I started, and biting my nails waiting on the response from my peers in the community. This is the first time I have considered that I might have lost a lot of confidence in my abilities. It takes a lot to put your hard work out there and potentially have it shot down in flames, and if there is one thing that has developed in recent years, it is peoples education on customs and what they expect from those more established within the community. It is going to be an uphill struggle for a while, but I am fortunate to have made some great friends through this who I know will be behind my return 100%
So while I would have loved to have atleast one pair completely finished to unveil along with this blogpost, I am sorry that you will have to settle for a teaser of what can be expected soon. I am sticking with what I love, movie themed shoes. Stay tuned!
At least I am confident that my shoe photography has improved…..
