Some classes hand you a pair of white sneakers and a set of paints. Others hand you a pattern and a piece of leather. Both get called a custom sneaker class, but you leave with very different things. Plenty of studios around New York run the first kind. At Brooklyn Shoe Space we only teach the second: making the shoe itself.
Customizing: you decorate a shoe a factory made
We don't run customizing classes, but you will find them all over the city. Most start with a blank, a plain white leather sneaker you buy or bring along. You prep the leather, paint it or add patches, then seal it.
- Time: usually an afternoon.
- Skills: drawing and painting. There is no shoemaking involved.
- What you take home: a store-bought sneaker with your artwork on it. The fit, the shape and the sole are whatever the factory made.
- Good for: a party, a team outing, or anyone who wants a one-off look fast.
Making: you build the shoe
This is what we teach. Our 3-Day Quick Kicks class starts with flat leather. Over three full days you build a pair of low, mid or high-top sneakers yourself.
- Day 1: work up the pattern from our sneaker template, pick leathers from the studio's leather library, cut them and start stitching.
- Day 2: finish stitching the upper, then last it, pulling it tight over a foot-shaped form, and add the heel counters and toe puffs.
- Day 3: attach the cupsole and stitch it on.
You choose the leathers and colours and design the details: the topline, laces, eyelets, pull tabs and topstitching.
- Time: three full days.
- Skills: none needed going in. You learn patternmaking, cutting, stitching and lasting as you go.
- What you take home: a pair of sneakers you made, and an understanding of how every other pair you own was put together.
- Good for: anyone who has looked at a sneaker and wondered how it was made.
Which one to pick
If you want an afternoon out, or a gift for someone who loves to draw, a customizing class at one of the many studios that run them is a good fit. If you want to choose the leather, learn how a shoe is built and leave with a pair nobody else has, that is a making class, and it is what we have taught in Brooklyn since 2014.
Before you book Quick Kicks
- Group classes run with at least two students. We post dates on the calendar, and with a month's notice you can propose your own. For a specific date sooner, book it as a private class.
- Book ahead so we can have materials ready in your size.
- To keep it to three days, everyone works from the same pattern template and lasts. For a more elaborate design, take the 6-day intensive.
- Buying it as a present? A gift card covers the class.
