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Project· AI

REAL Sneakers Made with AI

We designed CloudForged Jordans for Dreamforce with MidJourney. Seven artists said it was too bold. The eighth painted them by hand.

Blueprint of the shoe pulled apart: collar padding, ankle flap, tongue, laces, heel panel, swoosh, toe panel, insole, midsole and outsole, each with its clouds and starsBlueprint of the assembled pair, with front, rear, side and outsole views and their dimensions
MidJourney’s design: Air Jordan 1 highs in a starry night-sky blue, with white clouds rising from the sole
The finished pair: hand-painted Air Jordan 1 highs in night-sky blue with clouds and stars, on pavement
Real · hand-painted

From prompt to pavement

The Story

Our heads in the clouds. Our feet on the ground.

We wanted something to wear at Dreamforce that looked like us. So we asked MidJourney to design CloudForged Air Jordan 1s: night-sky blue, stars across the leather, clouds rising off the sole.

The picture was everything we hoped for. Then came the real challenge: an AI image isn’t a pair of shoes. We wanted to wear these, and we wanted a real artist to make them.

Seven noes, then a yes

We took the picture to artists who paint custom sneakers. Every one of them loved the idea. Seven of them passed: too bold, and not sure they could pull it off on real leather.

  • Artist 1Custom sneakersLove it. Too bold.
  • Artist 2Custom sneakersLove it. Too bold.
  • Artist 3Custom sneakersLove it. Too bold.
  • Artist 4Custom sneakersLove it. Too bold.
  • Artist 5Custom sneakersLove it. Too bold.
  • Artist 6Custom sneakersLove it. Too bold.
  • Artist 7Custom sneakersLove it. Too bold.
  • Universal GiftsThe NetherlandsWe’ll take it on.

8 artists asked: 7 passed, 1 said yes.

The eighth was Universal Gifts, a small studio in the Netherlands. They said they’d take on the challenge.

From picture to pattern

An AI image has no seams, no stitching and no sole. So the studio started by redrawing the design over a real Jordan 1, next to MidJourney’s picture, and marked the details to settle, like where the swoosh meets the clouds.

The first concept, with the AI picture as the reference.

In the workshop

Then it was tape, an airbrush and a lot of patience: the sky first, the clouds built up layer by layer, every star placed by hand. They sent us photos along the way.

Masked off and airbrushed, cloud by cloud.
Sky, clouds and stars, before the sole is unmasked.
Our cloud-and-anvil mark on the heel, in gold.

AI vs. real

Same idea: one made of pixels, one of leather and paint. Drag to compare.

The real, hand-painted pair
MidJourney's picture of the shoes
AI · MidJourneyReal · hand-painted

AI got us the picture. A person who said yes got us the shoes.

Painted byUniversal GiftsA small studio in the Netherlands, and the only one of eight brave enough to try. Go say hi.See their shop

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