At an auction in Lexington, Kentucky, they have been sold for charity 4 pairs of slippers inspired by Nike and Yeezy designs. However, the shoes were not for people, but were special designs for horses.
Horse Kicks, a website that promotes equestrian sports in Lexington, contacted Marcus Floyda 39-year-old sports designer, for him to do more. They were later auctioned off for charity at the Sneaker Ball Lex: A KOTD Affair event.
“His biggest argument is that if Lebron James could have his own shoe, why not name it after any horse,'” Floyd explains to Business Insider.
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The designer and current head of Toyota’s maintenance team, tried to create shoes for horses without having any experience previous in this field.
To create his first pair, Floyd disassembled some Adidas Yeezy 350, some Nike Air Jordan and some New Balance and rebuilt them to fit a horse’s hoof. The process, for all 3 pairs, took between 12 and 16 hours.
“I was able to take apart shoes that were already made to be able to use leather and other materials and adapt them to the legs and horseshoe of a horse“, says Floyd. He took the original shoes apart, stitch by stitch, and from there, he used a boot as a model of the horse’s leg to reconstruct the pieces.
Floyd now designs custom horseshoes and hopes to make it his main job.
Floyd learned the tedious job of deconstructing and rebuilding shoes by attending the SRGN Academy of “Shoe Surgeon” in Los Angeles in 2020. This has helped him so that he can now design custom shoes from scratch.
“I’m going to stop doing it for the big sports shoe companies. I will be the one who creates my own brandso I’ll take a few steps back to adjust the price,” Floyd said of the horse shoes, which are currently They are sold from almost 1,200 euros per pair and can be ordered through the website of Horse Kicks.
“This way it will be cheaper, although people have to understand that It is a 100% personalized and unique product.“.
Floyd says he enjoys customizing shoes for every customer, human or horse, that comes his way, and while he still works full-time at Toyota, sneaker design is where his true passion lies.
“I am dedicating the normal hours of a full day to something that right now I would call a hobby,” he explains to Business Insider. “I would love to dedicate myself exclusively to it, but I’m still trying to figure out how. I have to make sure it’s doable for me and my family.”
Before designing the custom horseshoes, Floyd had “zero contact” with horses.
Para Floyd, The world of equestrian shoes remains a largely untapped market.one that he hopes to master despite never having any experience with horses before he got into designing custom horseshoes.
“I have never had no contact with horses so farthis is the most I’ve ever done,” Floyd explains. The designer is still based in Lexington, and though he’s been surrounded by horse farms his entire life, rebuilding horse shoes was his introduction to this world.
“One thing that has really opened my eyes with this project is that there are many African Americans who ride horses and I hadn’t realised. There’s a great culture of horse racing in the African-American community, but in Lexington it’s not something we usually see,” Floyd said.
Compton Cowboysa community that intends introduce the young people of the region to the world of horses and horsemanship, is known for her role in changing the image that riders want to give. Floyd ensures that the organization contacted him to commend him for the work he is doing in this field.
This goal is also important to Floyd. In Lexington, the sneaker designer collaborates with the non-profit organization Frankie’s Corner Little Thoroughbred Cornerfounded by Jermo Reese, who aims to connect disadvantaged communities with equestrian sports.
“They contacted me and told me that it was a little difficult for them to have the space that I had,” Floyd says, adding that Reese offered his horses to test the prototypes of the new models.
Regarding the design of footwear for horses, Floyd believes he has much more to offer the industry. “Right now the world has only seen half of what I feel I could offer. I have to get to the point where that’s all I do: create,” he concludes.