I-SAW FEATURED IN NEW BOOK "CUSTOM KICKS"

Just to let everyone know that I-Saw's "Engraviti", hand engraved trainer customisation is being featured in the first ever book on customised sneakers. Called "Custom Kicks" and put together by the great Dutch design partnership MAKI, it's published by Laurence King and will be released some time in May, currently available on pre-release order from Amazon.

There will also be an exhibition, we will keep you posted when we know more....

I-SAW ROCK LINCOLNSHIRE!

Friday 10th of August saw the well attended opening of "See It!", Lincolnshire's eclectic groupshow of designer/ makers. Surprising the locals with their edgier but well received contribution was I-Saw, showing one Menswear piece, two Womenswear pieces and a pair of "Engraviti" Dunks. Making an impression on the East Midlands until 23rd of September, at the Roof Gallery, The Hub:National Centre for Craft & Design, in Sleaford, Lincolnshire.

CRIB KICKERS: BABY CUSTOM TRAINERS/ SNEAKERS

We've been meaning to test our footwear customisation skills on a pair of baby shoes for awhile now and when we got this pair of white canvas pumps for our little boy, it was on!! Keeping it nice and simple, clean and graphic, we stuck with adding black ink I-Saw Throw Up designs, in positive and negative repeat. Definately be dropping some more of these in the future, plus any parents with a taste for the original will be able to get a pair done for their little one.

WOMENS SNEAKERS

I-SAW ENGRAVITI CUSTOM ADIDAS GAZELLE - THE VINE UP EDITION



The beautiful Premium Leather of the seamless one-piece Limited Edition Adidas Gazelle has been given the I-Saw Engraviti Makeover. Subtler in contrast to the Nike Engraviti Customs, this pair have been embellished with the hand engraved "I-Saw Vine" artwork. The tasteful refinement and smaller sizing of the shoe is aimed at giving the ladies a little slice of the "Engraviti" action.

We felt it was about time we went back to dropping some "Engraviti" skills on some Adidas, as we hadn't done since some of the first pairs and the majority of examples were on Nikes. For a while we've been wanting to introduce a little something for the ladies in the footwear department and seeing as Womens Sneaker/ Trainer Customisation is all too rare a thing: witness the first Engraviti Sneakouture for Women. Hand Engraved on the Adidas Originals Limited Edition Gazelle in seamless leather, that was out last year. The "Vine" pair are currently for sale on our webshop, one-offs in a UK 5.

I-SAW CURIOSITY SHOP

This month sees the arrival of the I-Saw Curiosity Shop online store, for Fashion, Customisation, Sneakers, Art, Toys and the undefined curios. If you have not checked it out yet, its worth a look as you never know what you might find!

Heres just a few items to tempt your curiosity.
http://www.i-sawcuriosityshop.com

NIKE FESTIVAL OF AIR

I-Saw were part of Nike's Festival of Air exhibition at Nike Town, London where they exhibited three pairs of specially prepared Air Max 1's, also performing a live 'Engraviti' customisation demonstration. Taking the original year of release, 1987, as the theme, the immortalisation of the three definative Hip Hop album releases of that year became the focus for the applications. Hence the creation of a "Eric B & Rakim- Paid In Full" pair, a "Boogie Down Productions- Criminal Minded" pair and a "Public Enemy- Yo! Bumrush The Show" pair. A much applauded contribution to the show, at the opening their praise was sung especially from Musos in attendance, such as Nelle Hooper, Dizzee Rascal and The Herbaliser's Ollie Teeba.
See http://www.i-sawcuriosityshop.com, for more on I-Saw "Sneakouture" and "Engraviti" trainer customisation.

SNEAKOUTURE

The original techniques and high end craft work of our footwear cutomisation has attracted a lot of attention, not least from a number of brands who have wanted to work with us. The 1st pair of trainers we did with our engraving technique which we first used on belts 2 years previous, were a pair of leather antique finish Adidas Stan Smiths, which we created for our "Alphabet Alchemy" installation at Dream Bags Jaguar Shoes in Shoreditch at the beginning of 2004. Hot on the heals of this we created the first custom with this technique in what would become a limited run of Nike Curry Dunk Hi Premiums which were swiftly snapped up by the Sneaker Pimps International travelling custom sneaker exhibition.

Much of the I-Saw Customisation is focused on what we have named "Sneakouture", high end hand crafted Sneaker/Trainer embellishment. Exclusive techniques such as "Engraviti" (hand engraved leather graffiti) have put I-Saw soaring head and shoulders above the competition. This has led to accolades in the worldwide press and commissions from RBK's flagship store in Beveryly Hills, A Life's Rivington Club Trainer Boutique in New York, The Timberland Boot Company's original store in London' East End and most recently as a major part of Nike's Festival of Air.

CUSTOMISATION

I-Saw grew out of creating customised one off peices and is still very much active in this area. As enthusiasts of recycling and all things enviro-friendly we love breathing new life into older items, or just creating with work of such time invested craftsmanship that the items demand to be loved and treasured for life. We aim for a timeless quality that is an antidote to the throwaway nature of most modern products. Aside from the "Sneakouture" element we also customise just about everything else that people request. Some quality leather items can also receive the "Engraviti' treatment, which can be seen on much of our trainer work but we also draw, paint, dye, embroider, applique, quilt and even bead on the right item, for the right price.