The art of customisation is not new in the fashion industry. Over the years, designers have added their own touch to pieces through the medium of spray paints, paint-brushed stains, and hand-painted details. Whether you’re looking at your favorite Pinterest-inspired custom-made totes or the custom pair of Jordans, there’s a DIY for everything.
Here are some brands that have chose to go down the custom-made path:
CHE LAB
By Chaitanya Dixit
The brainchild of Chaitanya Dixit, Che Lab has been one of the leading names in the sneaker customization world. Dixit has designed sneakers for celebrities including Ranbir Kapoor, Wiz Khalifa, Divine, Alia Bhatt, Dimitri Vegas, Like Mike, Raja Kumari, among others. Known for his intricate detailing and artworks, he has collaborated with G-Shock, Reebok, Fila, Adidas, Veg/NonVeg, Superkicks, Puma, and so on.
VALKYRE CLOTHING
By Arindam Bora
A bespoke street-style clothing brand that infuses the elements of streetwear along with delicate hand-painted designs on your favourite denim jacket. The brand has been experimenting with a new collection of jackets that involves sublimation, embroidery, and hand-painted artwork. Since its launch in 2019, Valkyre Clothing has executed 4,000 custom hand-painted designs. Artworks of Travis Scott’s Astroworld, Tony Montana in Scarface and Drake’s Certified Love Boy are some of the popular ones that have been done by them. You name it, they’ll do it.
COURTSIDE
By: Saigun Grover
If you want more than just customised sneakers, Courtside is the place to check out. The brand is popular for transforming classic sneakers into standout pieces of wearable art. Apart from painted pieces, Courtside specialises in embroidering, deconstructing, and stitching up authentic sneakers into something new altogether, according to your preferences and styles. Courtside designs have prominent Gen Z styles—from cartoons, floral, or animal prints, among many others. The brand also offers accessories and add-ons for sneakers. For example, you can buy a variety of shoelaces, including braided or the signature Off-White style, to add to your bespoke piece.
BRUSHTLER
By Sanaya Irani
Sneakers, T-shirts, caps, bags, hoodies, and jackets, Brushtler is a one-stop for everything customised. The Mumbai-based artist entered the world of customisation because of her love for painting and illustrations. From classic old school cartoons, anime characters, TV show characters, her artworks brings in that touch of color to your favorite accessory or clothing. The attention to detail is what brings the wow effect to her pieces, which is done by infusing a variety of paints and experimenting with color palettes.
GUILD OBJECTS CREATIVE STUDIO
By Nikita Sagar
Founded by Nikita Sagar, Guild Objects Creative Studio is famous for its hand-painted sneakers, luxury bags, murals, paintings, and clothing. All you need to do is share your design with Nikita Sagar—it can be of your favorite artist, singer, TV show character—and she’ll paint it on to anything. Her Instagram is filled with hand-painted designs by her; right from murals to boyfriend denim to artwork on luxury handbags, she can do it all.
THE CHERRY BOMB CLUB
By Mehak Birdi
With the pandemic entering our worlds in 2020, there has been a rise of small businesses, and one such is The Cherry Bomb Club. Mehak Birdi’s aim behind creating the brand was to build a community of like-minded people, who live for the early ’00s aesthetic. By producing personalised jewellery made from pearls, charms, and beads, the brand circles around one colour: Pink. There’s pearl necklaces, silver chains, coloured beaded neck pieces, and phone keychains to choose from.
