Shoes, just like your clothes give a window into your personality and lifestyle. Customizing your sneakers speak out about yourself, they are a means of expressing yourself, just like any other art. You can either do the customization yourself, or get the help of several services that provide the art of sneakers customization. Sneakers customization can have the ranging from selecting custom colors and fabrics, to having artwork painted on a pair of classic shoes. The art of custom sneakers have brought a range of artists to the foray-those who love designing and have a craze for shoes.

Sneakers customization sure isn’t new, but over the last year it has come to commercial prominence through various sneaker boutiques selling various artists efforts. This has been a natural progression for these stores who must stay ahead of their competitors by offering something different – a true limited edition. Working under the name SBTG (Sabotage), Singaporean designer Mark Ong had rapidly made a name for himself as a sneaker customizer of some note.

Mark Ong (better known as the man behind SBTG Sabotage) is recognized as one of the most sought after underground shoe designers/ customizers in the sneaker collector world. In 2003, Mark came into prominence by winning a shoe customization contest on Niketalk.com. Within the same year, he also produced a range of limited edition shoes for famous sneaker boutiques such as Chapter and Atmos in Japan. Mark is also responsible for the clothing label Royalefam which is a regal militia highly influenced by urban and war aesthetics.

In 2004, SBTG’s designs have sparked international interest from well-known stores like Nom De Guerre in USA and Footage in Australia. In 2005, SBTG released specially designed sneakers for Hong Kong toymaker adFunture and added his special touch on shoes for renowned London DJ, Unkle. In 2006, a publication on the 20/20 Vision project by the Design Singapore Council named the designer of SBTG , Mark Ong among “20 of Singapore’s finest talents” in Singapore’s evolving creative landscape.

In July 2006, SBTG’s latest creative work came to life on Nike Dunk Low Premium SB custom sneakers. This limited edition release will be made available in Japan, Australia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, New Zealand, Bangkok and Jakarta.

SBTG’s RoyaleFam came back into the spotlight back in October of 2008 with a re-launch of their website along with the introduction of a new line of apparel and custom sneakers dubbed the, “Dead Generals” collection. Following up on the Dead Generals theme, SBTG has customized a series of Nike Dunk Lows he calls, “Dead Generals Part 2: Skeleton Comrade”. While keeping the grim military theme that made the first Dead General custom sneakers so popular, SBTG manages to remain innovative and leave his work devoid of any stereotyped repetition.

In February 2008, SBTG and another world-renowned custom sneakers designer Methamphibian collaborated together along with Leftfoot, to create a pack of New Balance 576 sneakers. They used the theme of Heaven & Hell on two colour ways of the New Balance 576. SBTG commented about this project. “Over the last few years, New Balance has released countless color combos and used many types of fabrics and leathers; we decided to do the opposite. The idea is to create a uniform looking shoe using just one overall color on each creating as much depth as possible with the sneaker paneling, mix of materials, patterns and print applications.”

For 2009, SBTG introduces the “Sawtooth Series” custom sneakers that feature an Acid Pop twist to the “Death From Above” design with metallic accents and animal prints. Four color ways are featured in this series-The Instinct/Bloodspot, Sable/Royal, Mono/Venom and Teal/Venom.

For further information regarding SBTG’s custom sneakers, please visit the website http://www.royalefam.com.