story

I am a makeup and special effects artist here in New York City. Makeup is so incredible because it's something that communicates things without really speaking out loud. Early on in my life...

...it was a different time. We had one drug store and it had like three crusty eyeshadow palettes, and that was it. And I would steal makeup from my mom and play around with it, and it looked horrible.

And I think as I got older, it was something that became as important as putting pants on. And then as I got into doing makeup for other people, I realized that it's this very intimate sort of...

...exchange that you have with someone that can really boost their confidence and change how they see themselves. Once I started learning special effects, I realized that there's this whole other...

...dimension that it adds where it really becomes this filter that distorts reality and how people see you in reality, which is a really fun thing to play around with.

With my design, I wanted to make something that felt personal and I wanted to infuse a sense of...

...history into this object that's actually very clean and pristine. I definitely know people that will walk a certain way as to not crease their Air Force 1s...

...which I think is really funny because this is taking that to the most opposite extreme. Makeup isn't always about being pretty. It's kind of...

...also about ugliness or otherness too, I think, and that's something that I really explore in my own work. I've definitely walked down the street in a certain pair of shoes...

...and made friends with a group of kids just because they were like, "Oh my God, are those Jordan 14s?" Certain shoes, I feel like, give you superpowers...

...at least in your mind. I think for sure there's a connection with the body and how certain things make you feel more powerful than others...

My favorite part of the shoe is probably the eye. It gives it a lot of personality. Also, when I was...

...designing it, I liked the idea of having an eye on the back of your foot, which I think would actually be pretty useful in real life.

Thanks for coming by the studio, and I hope you enjoyed the tour. And have a good Halloween.

The Drop-Off

Air Force 1 'Halloween'