I’ve always wanted to make myself a pair of legit customs, from the factory, Newbalance.ca and their NB1 was the first experience I had.

While doing my best Ronnie Fieg impression I chose the 998 silhouette, because come on… it’s dope, that’s why haha.

 The customization process was very easy to use, though I wish there were a few more colours, there were 3 different greys and zero browns, I was going into the creative process hoping to actually use red and brown shades but wasn’t able to, none-the-less the pair I made turned out ‘turnt up’ in my opinion.

Lacking a leather option [Edit: now featuring Horween leather & Herringbone twill option. *A single tear rolls down my cheek] I went full suede except for the ankle collar and toe-box, though the toe is also wrapped in suede, I also used black 3M hits to compliment the black suede and chose Sea Glass as my other colour sitting on top of the speckled Abzorb midsole.

I’m one of those guys that love a concept behind a design so of course my pair had to have one, named ‘Deepwater Horizon’ my pair is made to mimick the black oil consuming the gorgeous waters of the Gulf of Mexico during the BP oil spill of 2010, the speckled midsole symbolizing the sea floor where the spill originated.

 Hitting the heel with ‘I XIX XX’ and ‘BragAF’ stitching truly capped off the ‘custom’ aspect of designing my own shoe, call me Frank the Butcher, lol, yes of course I’m joking.

Ordered through NB Canada the sneaks are made in the USA and after a day in customs (no customs charges were applied which is awesome) they were at my door, the entire process from design, creation, shipping, to lacing up on my feet only took 21 days including weekends, which is a super fast turn around if you ask me.

I’m very impressed with the quality put into these, stitching is perfect, the suede is super butter, damn close to premium, some might even say it is, the shape is sleek and sharp, also thanks to my 1/1 certificate they provide I can thank Mariano personally for making a great pair that I’m going to give a lot of wear.

If you’re looking into a factory customize I fully back New Balance, job well done.

Hey @newbalancecanada I’m looking to get 6 pairs made for me and my groomsmen to wear at my wedding next year, any chance for a discount code? Hahaha … But seriously hahaha.