Self-Made Sneaker

Mixed/Too Many To Mention And Some I Don't Know

2 months in, the ghost leather is coming along nicely. The pueblo is starting to shine up, the cordovan is rolling beautifully. It's not the most drastic before and after so far but oh boy do I love all the little details coming out

Taken on December 5, 2025

Open Thunderdome 2025-2026, December submission

See specs

Maker

DIY

Model

Sneaker

Leather

Mixed/Too Many To Mention And Some I Don't Know

Last

Unknown Last

UK Brannock: 11.5D

Unknown Last: 12D

Order info

Availability: Custom

More about this item

I started this project by calling this my Frankenstein shoe. When I first got into leather working in 2020, I was working in my dad's garage in England, and I could only afford cheap upholstery leather scraps, each piece too small to be the only one used in any project. My first ever leatherworking project was a wallet where every piece of leather was different and every line of stitching was a different colour. Now, I live in Shanghai, where I have continued the hobby to the point that my leather collection is taking over my small apartment. So, seeing that the thunderdome was coming up, I challenged myself to make a pair of shoes where every leather panel is different and every stitch line is different (although I didn't have enough different threads for 2 shoes, so in order to introduce some cohesion into the chaos, the stitching is mirrored on both shoes). There is quite frankly too many leathers on this pair to be able to remember exactly what everything is, but it ranges from Natural veg from Wuta, to Togo leather, lambskin linings, pueblo, Minerva box, ghost leather, museum calf, a heavily skived bridle leather, Zermatt, several shell cordovans, as well as various different veg tans and Chinese imitations of pueblo. On the medial side of each shoe there is a patch, stamped with my logo underlined with '1/1' to highlight the magnitude of the uniqueness of this pair. Of course, every handmade leather food is unique, more so after some wear. But the chances of anyone else assembling this exact combination of leather types and thicknesses in this arrangement for a shoe is so miniscule that to me, this is the most 1 of 1 leather good that I will ever make. And now, I don't call it my Frankenstein shoe. To honour me living my best life doing exactly what I want to do, this is now the 双十一 // shuangshiyi // Double 11 shoe. 11/11 is singles day here in China, and not only are these shoes unmatching (so two single shoes rather than 1 identical pair) but when I stand with my feet together, the patches meet and create 11/11.

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