Custom Hybrid Jordan 4 and Air Force 1

What happens when you get two awesome sneaker customizers in the same room? You put two different shoes together! Today Vick Almighty is teaming up with Enrique of A1 Restorations to make a one-of-a-kind hybrid sneaker…something that we’re calling the Air 4orce 1. 

The idea behind the sneaker is simple; combine two popular sneakers into one cohesive hybrid shoe! If you haven’t guessed it already, the shoes we’ll be mashing up are the Fire Red Air Jordan 4 and the classic all-white Air Force 1. 

This project took a lot of planning and preparation, especially when deciding which shoe parts to use. Are you excited to see how this comes together? 

Of course you are! Who doesn’t want to see these two masters at work? Let’s find out what genius custom Vick and A1 came up with. Whatever they do will be much more creative than anything I could muster.

Taking the Shoes Apart

The first step in this custom hybrid sneaker is to remove the soles from each pair of shoes. Vick and A1 decided that this custom would work best if they used the sole from the Fire Red Jordan 4 and the upper from the Air Force 1. 

With that in mind, Vick could remove the sole from the Fire Red Jordan 4 without worrying about damaging the upper, while A1 was tasked with the careful removal of the Air Force 1 upper.

Now that the shoes are in pieces, we’ll let each customizer work to its strengths. For Vick, that’s the paint and artistic elements, and for A1, it’s the sole swap! Vick went ahead and started putting together custom swooshes for the shoe. The custom swooshes are made up of three separate pieces. Once Vick got the liner, and netting portions painted bright white, he glued them to the black backing piece and put them to the side for later.

All while this was going on, A1 used a Dremel tool to carve out the outsole of the Jordan 4. Because the sole for this custom comes from a different shoe, the upper of the Air Force 1 won’t attach appropriately unless some carving work is done. But you already know that A1 will do a proper job on this fitment. 

No Attachment Issues 

Things are looking good. It’s time to start building the shoe. A1 was responsible for gluing the sole to the upper because that’s his specialty. Man, are we glad he’s here! The fit was perfect… an A1 job! With the shoe put together, Vick removed the old swooshes from the shoe and replaced them with his custom Jordan 4-inspired swooshes. 

Now that the shoe is in one piece, we can paint the sock liner and attach the donor tongue from the Fire Red Air Jordan 4. With a swift flick of his airbrush, Vick painted the sock liner red and then hand-painted the back tap in flat black paint. Then, A1 cut the tongue to the proper size before gluing it and stitching it. 

The finishing touch on this custom is a sweet-looking Mars Blackmon logo, which Vick painted on the side of the shoe using a custom stencil. 

And just like that, two completely different sneakers have been harmoniously combined into one insane custom. How great is this hybrid Air 4orce 1? The best part about this custom was that it allowed each creative to play to their strengths. I loved seeing Vick take ownership of the detail work while A1 killed the sole swap! 

Would you buy this pair if they ever came to retail? I’m sure that if Nike dropped this shoe, it would sell out. 

Which two pairs of sneakers should we combine next? Head over to Youtube and let us know in the comments.