After graduating from Chelsea College of Arts, I began working on drawings for high-profile clients, including Anthony Joshua, Thierry Henry and Conor McGregor.
My passion for design led me into the world of customisation, where I collaborated with major brands such as Nike, Adidas, Puma, and more.
Expanding my creativity further, I transitioned from footwear to customising football boots. I launched my own business, working with some of the biggest athletes in the world, including Sir Mo Farah, Usain Bolt and Marcus Rashford.
how it happened
My Journey: From Art to Footwear Customisation
During my time at university, I dedicated three months to creating a detailed drawing, which led to a major milestone in 2017: winning the Young Artist of the Year award at the National Open Art Awards for a drawing of Conor McGregor. Afterward, I worked part-time at Niketown London, but I quickly realised my artistic skills weren’t being fully utilised. I wanted to create, not just sell shoes.
I began experimenting by customising shoes from my personal collection, taking them apart, reshaping them, and painting on new designs. This passion project turned into a portfolio that I sent to over 20 companies, but I didn't hear back. Instead of giving up, I took one final shot and presented my work to Nike HQ. This led to my big break—Nike invited me to design for their 2018 London Air Force 1 Campaign. I worked on sketching, digitising designs, and customising shoes for thousands of customers, including celebrities like Jorja Smith, Mason Mount, and Phil Foden.
Following my work with Nike, other leading brands, including Adidas, Converse, Puma, and Ellesse, began reaching out. I created customisation workshops for them and built a portfolio with some of the biggest names in footwear.
In 2019, I was invited by EA Sports to design the FIFA 20 Volta pitch alongside world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua. At the launch party, I customised Adidas Superstars for footballers like Kaká, Callum Hudson-Odoi, and Ian Wright. BBC Sport interviewed me, asking if I had ever customised footballers' boots. That sparked the idea to start customising boots for players, and my first client was Declan Rice—marking the official launch of my custom football boot business.
In early 2021, I began customising boots for footballers like Lucas Digne, Adama Traoré, and Oleksandr Zinchenko. More recently, I’ve had the privilege of working with Marcus Rashford, Mason Mount, and Romeo Beckham. In recognition of my work, I was nominated for Best Boot Artist of the Year 2021 by FootballBootsYT.
Along the way, I’ve been invited to special events like Nike Air Max Day at Chelsea FC in April 2022, where I customised a pair of Air Max shoes. That same month, I was commissioned to create drawings of Antonio Rüdiger and Malang Sarr. In June 2022, I collaborated with PUMA to customise limited-edition boots for Usain Bolt and Andriy Shevchenko, raising funds for Unicef’s Soccer Aid.
Follow My Journey
Stay up to date with my latest projects and collaborations on Instagram @jordan.dawson.
Contact
I'm always looking for new and exciting opportunities. Let's connect.