The Air Jordan 4 "Joker" custom was one that I wanted to express the importance of allowing a custom to be a little grimy and very imperfect and the Air Jordan 4 "Infrared" was the perfect base to set as the foundation.
The movie Joker was one I connected with due to the Joker's battle with mental illness. Whether you root for or against him in the movie, you can't help but appreciate the messaging encompassing mental health. With the character and storyline in mind for inspiration, I wanted to create a custom that showed the ugliness of mental illness, as well as the beauty in it.
Starting with the midsole, I wouldn't call them "aged". Although they were customized using the same process I would use to age a midsole, I wanted them to look like they've been through some things. I also added a "Nike Air" logo using a suede-like material. The upper portion of the midsole was painted lime green.
For the upper, the Joker's laughing imagery was added to the lateral side of the right shoe, with MJ's number "23" added to the lateral side of the left shoe, both with a suede-like material. Prescription labels were added to both lateral sides of the upper to include the conversation of medications. The mudguards of both shoes were sanded by hand to give them a weathered/deconstructed look and feel.
The wings on both shoes were sanded by hand and dyed to give them a look as if they were rusted. The heel tabs were customized for a mismatched look. The right heel tab's Jumpman was sanded by hand to add some texture before painted. It was then painted a pearlescent purple. The left heel tab was sanded in several spots and dyed just like the wings for a rusted look. The Jumpman was then dyed as well. I then added the Joker's laughing imagery to the left side of the heel tab using an embossing technique for texture.
Taking inspiration from how some used to style the tongues of their 4's, as well as the AJ4 Union, I hand sewed the tongues down to display the Air Jordan tag. Both tongues are stitched down differently. I made it possible that if I changed my mind, I could remove the stitching and wear the tongues up.
To finish off this custom, I swapped the laces with purple SB style laces. I tested a pair of lime green laces and didn't really feel like there was enough contrast in the colors and ended up putting the purple laces back in.
These types of customs always provide a level of fulfillment that most customs don't. I'm able to take a shoe and purposely make it imperfect, but share the beauty in its imperfections. I guess it's my way of providing a visual example that imperfections can actually be a positive thing and can inspire us to create other pieces of art in the world.
