DOMINIC“THE SURGEON”

WHEN YOU THINK OF LUXURY SHOES OR DESIGNERS, YOU HAVE TO THINK OF DOMINIK AS SOMEONE WHO TOOK BOTH CULTURE x LUXURY AND FUSED IT TOGETHER. DOM HAS WORKED WITH A LIST BRANDS, ATHLETES & CELEBRITIES FROM AROUND THE WORLD AND CONTINUES TO BREAK BARRIERS WITH HIS LUXURY SHOE DESIGN & CREATIVE INPUT INTO THE CULTURE.

We had a collaboration with Gucci, which is over there. This is not fully put together. But this is the products without the stitching. So this is what a shoe looks like before it’s last and finished on a sole. Then they sent us a bunch of dead stock materials that we were able to design into the shoe. I had built a sewing machine table out of marble that was in the the Gucci store for months.

Custom Designs

There’s like a ton of things in here that no one’s ever seen or witnessed.

How the material comes in these sheets, it comes in skins and that’s exactly what Gucci sent me.

But look $10,000. This came from the LV Illusion Bags, an authentic bag that we cut up and we made very few pairs. This is hand dyed, we did the prison bag $15,000. We cut up the prison bag and made only one.

Balenciaga, we did that shoe that everyone was upset about. It was like a $1200 shoe and it was just like it was a cheap a** shoe that was all ripped up and I wanted to play off that and do my version. The thick laces are trending and I just loved it. Then natural Python was always one of my favorites and I never had it. I’ve Coffee Died Soul. It’s, it’s one of my favorites. I’m working on. I’m working on my clothing line. we have merch but working on the clothing line. That was the one of one that I wore for the Super Bowl where we made a kimono from scratch with vintage military fabric and then we ran different materials that we’ve used in shoes from Louis to Gucci. Yeah, these are leather, Birkenstocks. It’s a fish leather Brazil.

Story

DOMNIK: Welcome to the space. I think this is the third interview in this room.

It all started when I painted a pair of shoes and then I went to high-school. People asked, how did you get those? I said I made them & then the paint fell off. So I was like, f**k, I need to find better paint. So it was more about the quality, how do I make a better quality product? That’s where I got to how can I make the best shoe in the world?

I knew that I needed an alter ego or an alias of a name or a brand name. Originally it was shoe surgeon with the money sign and then me and my friend who started this, we had a falling out. So then I became The Shoe Surgeon.

Jordans

DOMINIK: I used to wait in lines initially to get the Jordan’s. I was a hustler and I figured out how to get Jordan’s before they were even released. That was like a YEAH! moment I did it for myself. It was never for anyone else like I didn’t give a f**k. I just wanted it for myself. This was the very first one that my friend let me borrow back. I first wore those Jordans, then I was getting Jordans early. Once all my friends had the same shoes, we literally had to call each other. Like, what shoes are you wearing tomorrow?

This was the first Python Jordans that I made about 10 plus years ago. This is one that kind, I set the tone for Python Jordans. This is why Python is one of my favorite materials.

Teamwork

DOMNIK: It’s extremely important to have the right team and a team that can do many things. I’ve built this from doing everything myself to now having departments and it’s a challenging thing to do.

My most memorable part of this journey is having my kids and being able to have a team to help me maintain this infrastructure while also being a father,

Collabs

DOMINIK: We have different collabs from JB, NFL, Old Spice. to Ruffles and an exclusive collab with Ebay. I created a Ebay pair and then I cut it to relive that moment for me. Only a few people really knew why. Ebay just did a collab with Nike last year. They actually made a shoe that is clear in between and that you could actualy wear. I made for Justin Bieber when he was on Tour.

This is the Pizza Hut. This is a completely original silhouette. I think Grant Hill was in these, in a commercial where you press the button and it orders the pizza.