Air Jordan 1s are probably the single most iconic basketball shoe of all time, and while hundreds of Jordan 1 colorways already exist, creating your own custom color scheme is a great way to make your 1s match your style.
For our newest tutorial, we brought in Ike Okenwa from @thewizardofkickz to show us how to customize a pair of Jordan 'Gatorade' 1s, including how to easily create a custom weathered effect.
Make sure to check out the full tutorial on YouTube and grab the materials you need to create these customs from our online store.
How to Customize Air Jordan 1s
Before getting started, make sure you have the following materials on hand:
- Masking tape
- Angelus Leather Preparer & Deglazer
- Angelus paint
- Cotton pads/swabs
- A paintbrush set
- Acrylic finisher
Once you have your materials ready, it's time to get started.
Step 1: Tape
First, start by taping off the sections of the shoe where you don't want any paint or other products to get on.
Make sure to tape off the midsole and sock liner as we do not recommend using Angelus paint on these materials.
Step 2: Prep
Next, it's time to start the deglazing process. Simply dip a cotton pad into the deglazer and wipe down the shoe.
Leather Preparer and Deglazer removes the factory finish from the shoe to make it easier for the paint to adhere to the surface. You can also use it to create a weathered/vintage effect
Step 3: Sanding
To add to the vintage effect, you can use sandpaper to rough up the toe box and edges surrounding the toe box.
When sanding, just be careful not to put too much pressure in order to avoid changing the texture of the leather.
Step 4: Painting
Once everything is prepped, you can jump right into painting the shoe. For this project, Ike is using Angelus Cream paint for a simple color block design, but of course, you can use whatever colors you want.
Make sure to paint in light, even layers to avoid clumping and cracking. Each layer should be completely dry before moving onto the next one. Ike painted a total of six layers to achieve a solid, factory finish.
You can also use a detail brush to paint the Jordan wings logo and tongue tag.
Step 5: Finisher
After everything is dry, you can apply some Matte Acrylic Finisher to help protect the paint from minor scrapes and to get rid of the glossy finish.
Apply the finisher the same way you would apply paint, and make sure to let it completely dry before wearing the shoes.
Once the finisher is dry, you can take off the tape, lace up the shoes, and wear them without worrying about damaging the paint job.
Make sure to follow Angelus on Instagram to see more great customs like these and check out some of our other tutorials on YouTube.