For the Culture Customs in Thomasville specializes in personalized sneakers
Gabriella Jimenez holds one of her personal customized sneakers, an Air Force 1 that has alligator-patterned leather at the toe box and two additional suede Nike logo swooshes added on the side panel. {Contributed photo}
Gabriella Jimenez sees plain white Air Force 1 sneakers by Nike as her blank canvas to create custom-designed shoes.
Jimenez, who established For the Culture Customs online in 2017, opened a retail store at 38 W. Main St. in Thomasville in March. She said she would post photos of her unique sneaker designs on Instagram (she currently has 8,000 followers) and local people would order them and come to her house to pick them up. She also ships to customers across the country and even overseas.
“I figured if they’ll come to my house, they’ll come to my store,” she noted. “Plus, I really needed more space.”
These sneakers with butterfly patches are popular with female customers. {Contributed photo}
The 24-year-old entrepreneur enjoys the challenge of working with customers to make a sneaker that’s special to them. “I can make literally anything you can think of — I like creating something unique.”
Most of her designs begin with a white Air Force 1 sneaker, which she can embellish with leather stitching, painting, stencil work, airbrushing to make leather look like suede and attaching fabric patches. Typically, the toe box of the shoe and the side panel behind the Nike swoosh logo are modified to get the custom effect or simply painted.
Last year, a video of Jimenez’s custom bandana sneakers went viral. She offered bandana fabric on sneakers in a variety of colors. This year, swatches of designer fabrics such as Louis Vuitton, Dior, Gucci and Burberry are in demand.
School colors and mascots are popular customization themes, as well as fraternity and sorority symbols. She’s made a custom pair of sneakers for a bride with her wedding colors along with the couple’s special date.
Noting that Air Force 1 sneakers start at size one, sneakers for children customized with CoComelon, Care Bears, Peppa Pig and Baby Shark characters are popular as birthday gifts. Jimenez has even painted sneakers blue or pink for gender-reveal parties.
In addition to making custom sneakers, Jimenez offers cleaning and restoration of folks’ favorite kicks. She can re-sole shoes and make them look like new again.
Jimenez sells a variety of streetwear, from her own For the Culture Customs brand to designer brands such as Vlone, Supreme, Anti Social Social Club and A Bathing Ape, a Japanese fashion brand. She has T-shirts, shorts, hats and socks as well as backpacks and totes. She will be getting in more sweat suits and hoodies for the fall.
Gucci fabric has been added to the toe box and side panels of these sneakers. {Contributed photo}
Curious about the name of the business and the logo, which features a sneaker profile with different flags in the sole of the shoe? Jimenez said she wanted to represent all cultures. “You don’t usually see someone like me — female and Hispanic — running this kind of store. I wanted a name that was inclusive. That’s why I also try to release everything gender neutral.”
Jimenez jumped feet first into the business because of her own love of sneakers. She worked in fast-food restaurants while in high school to make money to buy the designer shoes she wanted. She then learned how to clean and restore them and add custom touches as well as how to use a leather-stitch sewing machine. “It was a lot of trial and error, watching YouTube videos and doing research online. There’s no course for it.”
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The 2015 graduate of Thomasville High School, where she was student body president her senior year, attended Guilford Technical Community College and Winston-Salem State University and took a few business courses along the way. But Jimenez decided to pursue her side business in sneaker customization and restoration full-time in 2019 and began looking for a space in her hometown. “I’m the only Hispanic business owner downtown and the youngest,” she added with pride.
Hours are noon to 8:00 p.m. Monday through Wednesday by appointment only (call 336-875-9936 to set up) and noon to 8:00 p.m. Thursday through Saturday.
