American-based artist Adam Macatangay is using his talents to create unique tribal footwear using a very popular brand.
As the owner of The Pacific Tattoo parlour in Tacoma, Washington, Macatangay uses his intricate skills to carve tribal markings into Nike Cortez shoes.
Using a soldering iron, he delicately burns the marking into the shoes’ textured suede fabric leaving behind a stunning custom design.
His page is full of Polynesian tattoos and shoe designs including many Hawaiian, Samoan, Filipino, and Māori custom-makes.
A pair he did earlier this year have gone viral, gaining a whopping 8.7 million views and hundreds of comments.
New Zealand rapper, Melodownz jumped in saying: “Bruh my dream pair of shoes 🔥.”
“TOO TOUGH!! [NZ flag emoji] 😜” said Travie McCoy - you might remember him from the early 2010s hits ‘Stereo Hearts’ and ‘Billionaire ft. Bruno Mars’
“So unique! 🤩,” a third person wrote, while another added: “Take my money!”
Someone of course had to chime in with: “Someone’s unc gonna be wearing these at some wedding or sweet 16.”
Not only are these customs incredible, Macatangay has also picked up doing the same with snap back caps and even tattooing tribal markings with coloured ink into leather shoes.
If you wanted a pair of ‘Koru’ kicks, they’re going for an eye-watering $400.00 USD ($678 NZD), but they are handcrafted with such precision so I guess that’s the price you pay for such a special pair.
Plenty of sneakerheads will be keen to get their hands on a pair, and who could blame them?
