Meeting Nike’s next (unofficial) shoe designer... As we all know lockdown was a terrible time for everyone, however, it did infact push us to become more creative with our free time. Creator @roryfullaaa was no exception, showcasing his creativity through combining his love for Air Maxes and his passion for making a name for himself within the industry, resulted in his renowned ‘sole-swaps’. But the question is... What is sole-swapping? As Rory describes it, it was a way he could not only restore his beloved trainers, (which were falling apart) but to also experiment with re-designing an entirely new silhouette. Although, how Rory found himself on this journey is most inspiring. After having a chat with @kaivyon Rory discussed that where this all started was during his childhood. As a child he was always fascinated by Air Maxes but simply could not afford them. It wasn’t until he got his first job where he actually had the opportunity to purchase these trainers. He would scan forum after forum searching for beat up trainers to add to his collection. His thought process was simple, why buy one pair of brand-new Nike’s when he could buy four beat up ones. However, the tactic of buying old trainers began to loose it’s shine when he noticed his favourite pairs started to crumble. He researched online trying to find people who could restore his beloved trainers but the high prices couldn’t help him much further. He eventually decided to try restore his shoes himself by cleaning them up and then performing his first ‘sole-swap'. However, during a period of low motivation, Rory described his struggle to properly pursue his brand. That is until he discovered the page @sneekgeek. From there Rory began to follow the sneaker restoration brand, being inspired by the owner’s ability to turn a hobby of restoring sneaker into an actual profitable business. He then stayed up all night writing a detailed message asking for a job, eventually resulting in Ronnie hiring him. In terms of the future of Rory's ‘sole-swaps’ keep an eye out for his content over at his IG or @sneekgeek_... who knows, maybe he'll be designing Nike's next Air Max.