Shoes are the finishing touch on an outfit, so they say. A pair of shoes travels with stories and can define a person. Jayson Bacunador held this belief firmly before starting his very own shoe-customizing income-generating hobby.
His interest in art began with painting stage backdrops during his high school years. He graduated Fine Arts in the University of the Philippines Cebu and currently, he’s a full-time artist. His focus after graduation was street art and mural painting.
“It all grew from poster making contests to mural paintings and eventually making my early years of experiences as the foundation to find my own style in art,” he says.
Jayson, most commonly known by his friends as Daot, has always been in love with the idea of buying shoes with unique details and styles.
“This hobby started when I realized how much I wanted to bring back my childhood when my mother bought me shoes, even though they’re not that expensive, as long as the design is good,” he adds.
Daot’s love and passion for art and shoes combined, this sprouted a start-up business that eventually caught attention on social media.
“I use my social media accounts in promoting my hobby in customizing, as well as for my murals and other street artwork pieces.”
The process starts with buying shoes from secondhand apparel stores or accepting damaged or old shoes from friends.
“I prefer customizing sneakers, it’s easy,” Daot remarks. He uses shoe paint and starts enhancing the designs preferred by him or his customers. “I’m still starting to learn different techniques”, he adds.
Daot customizes unisex shoes. Prices depend on the preferred design or on how damaged the shoes are.
“Sometimes it will run from Php 1500 to Php 3000,” he shares. Generally, he accepts and starts fixing shoes with workable areas and wide coverage. “I don’t usually customize shoes with a lot of stitches for now because I’m still learning how to restore shoes.”
Some of his inspirations are social media influencers @theshoesurgeon and @mr_sabotage. Brand collaborations are expensive, Daot adds. But because of this, he pursued creating his own collaborations with shoes he can afford.
One of his future plans is to create shoes from scratch. “When you know how to make shoes, you will also know how to restore”, he adds.
The skill in restoring shoes is significant when customizing. To be able to restore the beauty of the shoes, Daot adds, it is important to learn how these are made as well.
Daot’s shoe-customizing hobby-turned-business has reached collaborations with local brands like Deadways and Strap. He also has future collaborations with Groceries Worldwide and other local artists like Bastinuod.
Shoes protect and create a symbol of style. With proper training, materials and platforms, Daot believes in the idea of restoring the beauty from the shoes’ roots.
“I have always been in love with how the shoes are keenly processed and its beauty will always remain no matter what happens to it”, he says. Daot’s hobby bridges the gap of the old to new.
Lastly, he adds, “The main purpose of this hobby is to bring life back to shoes. People always tend to throw old ones away but shoes are symbolic. I wanted to bring back the soul of the shoes to its sole.”
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