Kobe Bryant’s impact has been felt long past his untimely death, and in much more than just the NBA. His sneakers with Nike have inspired people across the globe and are now the highlight of the NFL, thanks to Houston Texans wide receiver Stefon Diggs and renowned sneaker customizer Dan “Mache” Gamache.
Mache and Diggs have a longstanding relationship. In 2017, the customizer made me a pair of Spongebob Dub Zero sneakers and made Diggs a Spongebob cleat with the leftover paint. Diggs’ Kobe cleats have been a big deal this season. His custom of the “Dark Knight” Kobe 6 went all over the internet. He’s also worn the PJ Tucker version of the Kobe 5, the “Reverse Bruce Lee Kobe” 5s, and Mache made him the “Kay Yow” Kobe 6 and “Poison Dart Frog” Kobe 7s for this upcoming week.
Many were surprised to see Diggs wearing the Kobes this season because he has a sponsorship with ASICS. Last year, he wore custom ASICS 2160 cleats on the field from Mache, but Mache says that won’t be happening again anytime soon due to footwear regulations in the NFL.
So for now, it’s Diggs and Kobe. Mache wants to deliver some of the Nike Kobe hits from over the years, while working collaboratively with Diggs to find out what will work best with his uniforms and what he likes the most. We spoke to Mache about working with Diggs to make some of the coolest cleats in football. The interview, lightly edited for clarity, is below.
I’m sure you noticed that everyone’s just been going nuts about these customs on the sneaker internet in the past few weeks.
Yeah. It’s funny, I’ve been getting tired of answering questions about why he’s not wearing ASICS on the field. Just explaining that. That’s obviously not my job to do it, but I know what’s going on, so I feel like I have to because he won’t. ASICS just can’t. They don’t have a license to have their product on the field, and they don’t make football cleats. And also his deal isn’t exclusive, so he can wear whatever the hell he wants.
That was actually a big reason why he left Jordan Brand is because they got really upset when he was wearing ASICS and Kayanos at Fashion Week, on The Shop, and they didn’t like it. So he’s more about doing what he wants as opposed to being bound. Being a free agent is the best for him, just because then he can do whatever he wants without any repercussions.
You had done those ASICS cleats last year that went super viral.
Well, they went crazy and there’s a reason why they only went one week, because the league and whatever. I guess I was talking to Marc Marquez from ASICS and he was like, “Yeah, it was awesome for us, but it was also, we had a lot of questions to answer from people, like, ‘What’s going on?’” So, that was a one and done. Just like the reason why you don’t see New Balance, even though they have Marvin Harrison and Chase Young. Anything they wear, they’re all spatted up, so there’s no logos on top. Even Under Armour, same thing.
Stefon Diggs wearing the ‘PJ Tucker’ Kobe cleats. Via Getty
So, how did you guys come up on doing Kobes?
Well, last year he was still wearing his leftover Jordan stuff from his deal. And then this year going to Houston, he had some leftover Jordans as well, and we were doing stuff during our preseason. Originally we were just kind of going about doing art inspired cleats, like different stuff, like different artists and whatever, and then it kind of matriculated to the Kobe stuff.
The first week we did it was against Minnesota and we did the reverse Bruce Lees, as an homage to when he wore the Bruce Lee colorway when he played in Minnesota back in the day. And we were just trying to figure out a way to pay homage to his time in Minnesota without being too big of a deal about it. So we just did the Bruce Lee colorway with a little purple strap on the back. It’s a little nod to that. And then obviously aesthetically all those Kobes—like the 4s, the 5s, the 6s, even the 7s—they just kind of translate well on the cleat. They look obviously, from far away, you wouldn’t know the difference unless you got really close. This week we’re doing more Kobes.
He hit me to do a second pair, because I was already trying to get ahead of it for the week, because now more and more guys are coming to me. Again, it’s a gift and a curse, because it’s like, they see it and they see obviously the attention that they get and things like that. And there’s guys that are doing awesome stuff, but I mean, obviously Diggs certainly has been a popular name forever, so it’s kind of been just a good little perfect storm for attention and notoriety.
Kobe ‘Dark Knight’ custom cleats. Via Mache
Then with the PJ Tuckers last week, he’s like, “What are you thinking? I’m thinking these four colorways, pick one.” I was like, “Well, we got to do the PJs. That’s definitely the one.” And I urged him, “Make sure you put the neon laces in them, because if you don’t, you lose the whole aesthetic of the whole thing.” I was like, “You’re not going to know it’s a PJ.” So he was like, “Got it.” Because he always will throw in white laces and I’m like, “Do not put white laces in these. Please don’t.”
I feel like the Dark Knight pair got a lot of attention?
It’s always just trying to figure out what’s going to go with what the uniform is, and they’ll usually find out on Monday. The following Monday, we just try to figure out what works. It’s like, we’re doing the Kay Yow 6s this week. This is the only month they get away wearing pink cleats without getting in trouble. So I told him, “If you’re going to do it, you got to do it this week or next week, and that’s it.”
The Kay Yow was already done. I was already trying to get ahead of the week because I got a shoe release in Minnesota at the end of the week. So I was trying to get everything done so I don’t have to worry and last minute stuff, and then, of course, he throws me a curveball about doing a second pair. I’m like, “Fuck.” I was trying to get ahead of it. You know, these guys. It is what it is. I love the guy to death, but he can be a pain in the ass.
Stefon Diggs wearing the ‘Dark Knight’ Kobe cleats. Via Getty
How deep in the Kobe archives are you guys trying to go?
We’re staying in the low top vein, so we’re doing some 7s. We’re going to do a couple of different low-cut variations. The other ones we’re doing are the “Poison Dart Frog” 7s, but it’s the blue and red ones. It’s kind of a black colorway, but it goes with their uniforms, so that’s kind of why we’re going with it. He’s trying his best to go with things that are going with what they’re wearing.
I mean, thankfully, there’s so many Kobe colorways that there’s plenty to think of, and I think the thing that’s cool with Steph is he’s not really doing it to keep up with all the other guys. He’s doing it because he likes it. I feel like guys are looking at him to see what he’s doing now, it’s dope because he just does not care. And people seem to care a lot more than he does, which is pretty cool. I aspire to have that amount of don’t give a fuck-ness, but I don’t.
Do you know what his personal connection to Kobe is? Whether he was a huge fan or that was his favorite player?
He was a fan. This was back in, I think 2018 maybe, when we did the Bruce Lees originally in Minnesota. His touchdown celebration was doing the Kobe fadeaway and he had Jerick McKinnon like, guarding him. He was doing the jab step and the fadeaway when he got the touchdown. So yeah, he was obviously a Kobe fan. I think like most guys his age, our age, I think everyone has a special connection. I kind of feel like people care more now that he’s gone, obviously, I think have more of an appreciation for him.
The ‘Reverse Bruce Lee’ Kobe cleats. Via Mache
You did the other Bruce Lee shoes for him this year?
Yeah, we did the reverse Bruce Lee. Yeah, so it went reverse Bruce Lee, and then… I’m trying to think of the order of what we did. I know we did the Dark Knights, against Buffalo. That was a whole other thing. He just wanted something dark. Then the Italian Camo 6s. It was actually really funny because he literally hit me on Thursday and their game was on Sunday.
And again, I was going out of town for something else, and I was just like, I had already done a whole Swarovski covered one that took me freaking six, seven hours to do. I thought I was done, and again, he hit me with a curveball. He’s like, “Oh, could you do these too?” I’m like, “Fuck, man. Yeah, sure.” You know what I mean? What do you do? I mean, it’s like if you’re not available, they’re going to go to the next guy. So, you do what you got to do without totally ruining your life.
Are there any personal favorite Kobes of yours that you’re trying to push on him to get done because you just want to see it out there?
There’s a few. I’ve been pushing hard for the “Mango Barcelona” 6s, because those are my favorite Kobe pair that I had, and reluctantly sold to DJ Skee forever ago, and he won’t sell them back to me. I’m so mad. It was one of those times where it was kind when I was kind of coming up and you needed money. For that time, it was like $1,000. How do I turn that down, you know? Now you can’t find a size 12 anywhere for anything and Skee, he will not pry them from his hands.
He wore those when he came on Full Size Run, actually.
Oh, he did. Those are mine. I gave him shit for it. I told him, I was like, “You’re killing me, dude.” And he showcased, he pulls them out. Yeah, that one’s one I would love to do. I’d like to do the “Dark Knight” 5s. Maybe some of those, the whole collection of the ones they did with the colors with the artists and stuff. The Prelude pack.
Kobe cleat customs in an ‘Italian Camo’ colorway. Via Mache
How long would it take you to do, say, a shoe like the Prelude 6, right? That’s the one that has all the patterns all over it? How long would that take you to paint?
That would be my week. I would have to shut down my whole week to do those. These Kobe 6s are easy, because it’s just patterns and colors. And I have the snake stencil saved, so I keep that, and now I’ll just go into my laptop and type in Kobe 6 and have all the formatted swooshes and the Kobe logo all sized and ready to go, and then it’s just a matter of color blocking it. Like I did the Kay Yows yesterday. Those were easy, but some other ones are tough, and now some of his other teammates are coming and getting stuff. So again, it’s like, careful what you wish for, but I can’t complain.
So other people are seeing you do the Kobe stuff and they’re like, “Hey, I want to get in on it”?
Oh, yeah. Or I’ve talked to other fellow cleat guys, and they’re like, “Yeah, no, all these guys want Kobe stuff.” It’s like, yep. I mean, that’s how it goes.
This weekend he’s going to be doing the Kay Yows and then you’re going to be in Minnesota for the sneaker release?
Yeah, for my shoe drop. Think he’s doing the “Poison Dart Frogs”, too. I don’t know what he’s going to do, because I just never know. He’ll have two options, so we’ll see.
Those are the multicolored ones?
Yeah, they’re black, red, and blue.
I always liked the black and green pair.
They’re the best ones. Those are ones you wear. I mean, that’s the one that I think everyone remembers. It’s weird because sometimes we’ll have a nice little conversation or just like, “What’s your idea? What are you thinking?” And it varies week to week. I think we’re all different depending on how we’re feeling that day. And it’s also, thankfully, they win. When they lost to Minnesota, I wait a couple days to hit him up because they’re obviously competitive. They’re pissed off about losing, so the last thing they want to talk about is their cleats, but it’s also like the train’s got to keep rolling over here. So I was like, “Alright, dude. You grieved long enough. What are we doing?”
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