Killa Kate
Killa Kate is the kind of girl all you scene kids wish you could have cause she’s attractive, far from dumb, and wears official kicks, but your pricey, trendy SOHO clothes will never get you a date with her. Your money can get her to customize some kicks for you. Maybe then you’ll feel cool.
What kicks do you have on right now?
White Jordan 3’s, my favorite shoe.
Customized?
The ones I have on? No, I usually don’t touch Jordan’s.
How come you don’t touch Jordan’s?
They are too beautiful, haha.
How do you decide what shoe you’re going to work on?
[It depends on] what the customer wants.
What made you start altering kicks?
I was 19, in college, and bored out of my mind. I had seen something online with a dude named Emmanuel Labor and his customs, and I was like “Wow!! I can do that!” I was going to do kicks for my boyfriend at the time, till he broke my heart, so I just did them for myself. They were these crazy-ass pink AF1’s. God knows where they are now.
After those AF1’s you obviously made more. Were they in demand?
I put them online and people were like “Oh my god, a girl who does shoes,” like I was the second coming of Christ. So I decided to make a lucrative career out of it and never looked back.
What did you do next? Buy kicks and supplies like crazy?
I did a lot of testing through trial and error. At that point I hadn’t mastered it yet. I read Methamphibian‘s Guide to Customizing a few times.
And what did you learn from that guide?
A lot of things, but the most important thing I learned was how to preserve the shoe after you paint it, so it doesn’t crack. My first few shoes definitely chipped and I was like “Shit!” But slowly I learned what I was doing wrong.
Any angry customers?
One, and never again.
How did you solve that one?
I learned how to seal and strip them properly, before anything. Basically you don’t just schlep-on paint and [say] you’re done.
You got the knack for it and then what happened?
I just started to get my name out there via the internet. Then after I did that I slowly got more well-known. When I got an article in “Sneakerfreaker,” that was the biggest thing for me. [Afterwards] I [was featured in] “Sneakerpimps,” and [numerous other publications].
And now you been around the world and you can’t find your baby?
Pretty much.
How much are your services?
Usually I charge $80 to $100 for restorations, and $180 to whatever for customs; and I say “Whatever,“ because the possibilities are endless.