A massive welcome to the latest custom crew to come out of Norf London - Introducing KBG...

Why Don't Believe the Space Jams ?...what inspired the theme?

The first thought we had was a Rainbow Road theme. We wanted to take aspects of our previous shoes which have been popular with customers. We didn't want the design to look too childish, we wanted more of a futuristic feel so we chose a Charcoal base to highlight the multicolored fade that runs around the shoe. We added details to the base with stars and covered it in pewter to give a sleeker finish.

How many hours did you put in?

Altogether we put in about 9 hours.

What's new in the Kicker Bocker offices?

Well, we have recently been featured in RWD Magazine, and we are currently working on a small collection for a boutique in America.

Tell us about your 1st custom project?

Our first custom ever was for ourselves around 2 years ago. We had no idea what we were doing really, we didn't use acetone so they didn't last long, which was lucky because they looked like crap!

Have you got anything big planned for 2009?

The next step for KBG is to branch out into female shoes, customising heels and what-not. We have designed a couple of pairs for friends which have gone down really well, and are hoping to sell a couple on our website soon.

What's your artistic background?

Well, we have always been interested in street art and graffiti, people like Blek le Rat, D*Face and Banksy were street artists that we looked up to while growing up. We liked how they could make a statement through there art, and I guess that has pushed through to us on sneakers. We liked the idea of being able to have total control on designs and structures of the shoes we were customising. When Nat went to college to do Graphic Media she became interested in illustrators and graphic designers, people like Gary Fernandez and Takashi Murakami who's Kanye West Graduation cover inspired us to look into the "Superflat" style opened a new chapter for designs and ideas for future customs.

Tell us a Secret?

I like to freeze my grapes......

What the hell do you do with frozen Grapes?

Eat them....taste better than ice cubes!

What's your favourite base sneaker to paint on?

Probably Nike Dunk, we really like the sections and the style isn't as chunky as AF1, so the designs seem to flow better.

What's your most treasured possession?

Without a doubt my Apple Mac, not only can we do designs on photoshop but it keeps us entertained while we are painting...i love you www.watch-movies-links.net!

When are you happiest?

When we have finished a custom and are pleased with the result....then we can play on the Wii.

What is it like running a start-up Custom's Business? Is it hard to get your name out there?

Well, like any start-up business you need to make sure you can give the business the time it needs to be a success, and also the finances to start up and survive for the first couple of months when you might not be rolling in it! When we first started it was fair to say we where a bit lost as to where to go next, but we found very quickly the people to speak to and places to go to get KickerBockerGlory out there. The whole sneaker community is a very responsive one, as soon as you post your latest design on forums you will get pretty much instant feedback on what people loved and hated about the design, we found our name spread mostly from there, people liking our designs spreading the word and hitting our website. Overall it is great to have our own business and as long as you pester the right people you will quickly find your inbox getting fuller!

See more of their pukka, kick ass customs at Kicker Bocker Glory