Dariyn Enriquez is a sneaker artist who does it all, from Nickelodeon to Disney-inspired sneakers and even some sneakers that are inspired by music albums. What better artist to create a custom pair of sneakers inspired by their album art than the most controversial person in sneaker culture, Kanye West, emulating his studio album Graduation, which includes sons like Homecoming, Bittersweet Poetry and Good Life. Let’s take a look at these gorgeous Graduation x Nike Dunk custom sneakers.
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Kanye West (Ye) is easily one of the most controversial figures in both music and fashion at the moment, with news about his adidas deal dominating the sneaker world all of this year. One thing that you can’t deny is that he is a brilliant artist and designer, two aspects that definitely come through with the design of the cover for Graduation.
Kanye West’s third studio album, Graduation, left a splash in the music world, with many exciting elements making up the album cover. @dope_don_designs has worked hard to incorporate as many of these excellent elements as possible into the design of these stunning Graduation x Nike Dunk sneakers.
Starting from the bottom, the outsole of these custom sneakers is a deep purple, matching the darker hues of the sunset sky that is depicted as the backdrop of the album cover.
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Speaking of that sunset sky, the same motif can be seen on most sneakers’ uppers. Made of leather, the beautiful image is spread over the perforated toe box, the quarter, and the tongue, slipping between orange, pink and purple for a stunning ombre. The clouds are present on the quarter alone.
Much of the fore-foot panelling is white leather, matched in colour by the midsole that complements the purple outsole. The white blankets the sneakers from the tip and the mudguard through the laces and finally wraps around the heel with the heel counter. The heel counter has a stunning representation of the explosive life of the little teddy being blasted into the skies, including the orange-to-red retro rainbow, the blue smoke and the black shards.
The teddy is also present, with his head embroidered on the mudguard. The teddy looks much the same as he did on the album cover, except that this time, his broad, starry eyes look a little glazed over because he is facing head-on instead of looking off to the side the way that he is on the cover.
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Finally, the Nike Swoosh logo also has a colour-shifting ombre, transitioning from a dark purple that matches the outsole to a brighter pink. In contrast, the border of the Swoosh does the opposite, transitioning from pink to dark purple and meeting in the middle.
Matching the black shards, the laces, tongue rim and the inner lining of the sneakers are black as well. However, they aren’t pitch black, but rather a slate black sort of colour.
If you thought that all @dope_don_designs could do was design sneakers based on cartoons, this is the perfect pair of sneakers to see that that isn’t the case. Managing to incorporate so many elements of the cover art, this pair of sneakers is perfect for die-hard Kanye West fans.
