About the Artist

Some may think Paris's designs were the inspiration behind the Air Jordan 1 x Dior design. 

Paris Jordan’s (aka Dezinedope) influence in the sneaker and custom sneaker culture is widespread whether he is given proper recognition or not. Some may perceive him as the Dapper Dan of designing (as Dapper would say) “knock up” luxury sneakers. Though shoe designers are not faces you often see in the media, Paris has designed custom luxury sneakers for celebrities such as YG, Billie Eilish, J Cole/Dreamville, Trinidad James, Lil Mosey, Tyga, Larry June, Christina Milian, Josh Gordon, Kenya Barris, and among others.

Recently, Paris’s Nike Air Jordan 1 x Dior earned him well-deserved recognition as one of the most talented luxury sneaker designers in the world. Though the mainstream may have seen it first when Nike announced the collab, sneaker enthusiasts knew Paris was the first one to do it a year before the official announcement. Did someone from Nike or Dior peek at Paris's sneakers and use them as inspiration? Maybe. [Mentioned in video, coming soon]

In February 2019, Paris was awarded the GOAT DIY Customizer of the Year. Throughout DezineDope’s existence, Paris has been mentioned countless times in the biggest luxury streetwear blogs such as Highsnobiety, Hypebeast, Complex Sneakers, and Sneakerflies. Getting your hands on a pair of Paris’s limited edition shoes can cost up to $1,000, a price many stylists, brands, and A-list clientele are willing to pay for their flashiest show outs.

Whether you’re a sneakerhead or just love reppin the flyest kicks on the block, it’s essential to know the deep fascination for sneakers. Some people may obsess over the design and level of detail on kicks and others may know everything down to the history and name of the designer. The word “sneakerhead” has a lot of due diligence around the sensitive title. And if you’re a shoe reseller, it’s known to be disliked by the community since you’re only there to make a profit. 

Whoever you identify as, there are a lot of elements to understand sneakers. Some who truly appreciate sneaker culture may know the history of notorious kicks such as: SB dunks, Air Jordan’s, Foamposites, Cortez’s, Air Max’s, Air Force’s, Superstars, and some may say more or less. 

Understanding not just the history, but the thinking behind each shoe design is mind boggling. Some of the biggest shoe designers include Tinker Hatfield, Hiroshi Fujiwara, Peter Moore, Eric Avar, Bruce Kilgore, Bill Bowerman, Sergio Lozano and more. Frank Cooke and Alexander-John are Paris’s favorite designers due to their storytelling, detail, and design abilities. Someday soon, Paris Jordan is foreseen to join this accomplished group of designers. 

Designing shoes is not a walk in the park. You have to dive deep into the background, philosophy, theme, concept, design, material, color-way, and pattern. If you were to watch a designer develop a shoe, you may think they are designing a car with all the sketches and prototypes they mock up. That’s why it’s like wearing an expensive art canvas on your feet. Hence why: Sneakers can cost up to $20,000, you see tents / long lines outside of shoe stores, StockX and GOAT was created, and why the sneaker market is worth 72 billion in 2020.  

The multi hyphenated shoe couturier, Paris Jordan single handedly takes care of his brand doing everything from designing shoes to packaging and shipping. It’s amazing to see someone who creates over 700 pairs of shoes a year doing it all independently. Luckily, I’ve been able to watch Paris’ creative, business, and life process in the past six months. And it’s quite inspiring. 

Paris is the oldest of five siblings and had the big brother responsibility of making sure his siblings were on top of their game with their heads on straight. Since his mother was an accountant and his step-father was into basketball and hip-hop, Paris was a well diversed child growing up. Getting good grades in school, participating in the accelerated learning program, dropping 20 in his basketball games, and rocking the flyest fits were in his nature. Paris was constantly being told by his mother, “Don’t half ass it.” 

As a hooper, his nose was always buried in Slam and Eastbay magazines looking for the coolest styles and shoes from the people he looked up to most. After looking at inspiration, Paris would run to his computer and design his own pair of sneakers on NikeID for several hours a day. 

During his senior year of high school, Paris was forced to meet reality. He wasn’t going to pursue the level of college basketball he intended to play. Therefore, Paris knew he had to separate himself from his friends and put his focus elsewhere. This was a tough reality since basketball was a religion to him. However, he is thankful for the sport as it endowed him with the knowledge, work ethic, ego, and values he retains today. 

“Basketball taught me love. And when you love something, you are capable of achieving things you never thought you could. I learned how important it is to put in the hours and how you have to walk out into the court with the confidence in yourself and your teammates.”

Since Paris was a smaller guard, he had to get creative in his game. He taught himself how to be quick on the court while handling the ball in order to make it challenging for other players to guard his suave moves. Paris still utilizes those same creative adaptations. Since he hasn’t had the opportunity to be a designer for a big sneaker brand, he creatively uses branded sneakers and enhances the shoe with his own designs. 

“If they won’t give me a job, I’ll still keep doing what I love doing.”

During Paris’ time at Purdue University receiving a Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering, he was able to discover his passion and calling for sneaker design. Immediately after classes, Paris would rush to his apartment to customize his friends’ shoes for little to no charge. His first shoe and immediate big hit was the Air Jordan Fire Red 5’s, Silver Tongue. After that, his inbox became flooded with favors to revitalize old kicks in the closet back to freshness. 

“Throughout the day, there are several ideas flowing in my mind. That’s normal. But when there’s an idea that resonates, I know it’s something real when I can’t stop thinking about it. I know it’s something special. I have to do it.”

After graduating from Purdue University, Paris was offered to partner with Circle City Sole to open up their new shop Circle City Sole Customs. Though he was known for designing sneakers, he worked on everything from heels to roller skates. During his time there, Paris said it was the most stressful position he had ever experienced. However, he’s appreciative for that opportunity since it provided him the knowledge and expertise he has now. He loved working for the neighborhood and getting to be known as the go-to-man for shoes. Yet, the input vs outcome was not meeting his standards. Paris was being pushed to design nearly fifty shoes a week and wasn’t seeing his hierarchy of clientele go to the level he expected. 

Paris knew he had to make a change. That change was moving across the country with all of his belongings to Los Angeles, California in 2015. 

“I always knew it was destined for me to end up here in LA. And when my best friend at the time told me he was moving out to LA for his masters degree, I told him I was coming. I didn’t hesitate for a second. I finished up my last orders (which was tough) at Circle City on a quick ass timeline so I could leave ASAP.”

Since his time in Los Angeles, Paris Jordan’s brand “DezineDope” has skyrocketed with his improved craft and most importantly, his growth as a person.

When you’re someone who wants 1-of-1 luxury sneakers that nobody or only a handful of people in the world have, your best bet is to direct message DezineDope. His work finds a beautiful balance between luxury and casual that celebrities, brands, and sneaker enthusiasts appreciate consistently. 

Although receiving these well crafted luxury sneakers is a quick and easy process, it's actually a meticulous and thoughtful operation behind the scenes. 

After brainstorming throughout the day, Paris will mock up several designs on Photoshop combining different color-ways and luxury materials. Once the look and feel is done, he makes the favored design come to life by making alterations using tape, exacto knives, a sewing machine, and an airbrush. This process takes several scrupulous hours for each shoe. Finally, a masterpiece has been created and the orders avalanche in. 

Occasionally, Paris collaborates with different brands (Puma/Dreamville/BET/Teen Vogue/ComplexCon) and develops a design together that makes sense. However, his most prominent sneakers are the ones he’s personally designed under DezineDope. What separates his designs from other sneakers is his incorporation of luxury materials from brands such as Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Dior, etc. 

You may be thinking, can’t Paris get in trouble for combining sneakers and luxury materials when he isn’t receiving permission from these brands? Yes, he absolutely can. Just like Dapper Dan, many of these brands have come after him trying to shut down his craft and business. However, nothing will stop Paris from doing what he loves doing, designing luxury sneakers. 

“I don’t take it personally when they come after me. It’s their protocol. I’m not the only one being chased down either. There are a lot of people they are chasing. There is no way I can combat it. To artists, if you are going to use a brand’s product, then you can’t get mad if they come after you. If I was the brand, I would be coming after me too. But I know i’m not going to stop because I love my craft and what i’m creating.”

Everyday, Paris is taking risks to do what he loves doing. Since he was young, he’s always tried to have a strong belief in himself. Having to make sacrifices and remain disciplined is essential in order to achieve his goals. 

“Everything is up and down. You can’t predict any of it. This is what excites me because anything can happen at any moment, for the better or worse. It’s all up to you to keep pushing. I know i’ll be prepared.”

Michael Jordan was one of his role models as a kid. Observing MJ’s charisma and determination evidently manifested into Paris’s mindset. Seeing someone love something so much and how much hard work MJ put into the game was so inspirational to his youthful mindset. 

Being confident in himself has been an important quality as an artist who creates art for others to wear. Basketball gave him that confidence. Paris embraced the feeling of not being confident or having the fear of failing when he was matching up against the most talented basketball players in his club games. He realized that if you have that thought process, you are almost always going to fail. Having a positive mindset is vital for his business and lifestyle. 

“If you don’t believe in yourself, nobody else will. I had to manifest my success and be positive while also knowing how to be efficiently hard on myself.”

Mental health is something Paris has to keep on-check daily. He knows without a healthy mind, he wouldn’t be able to do what he is doing today. Paris says, “If I can’t think straight or have my head on straight, nothing is going to be straight. How can I expect to do great when my inside is all twisted? It’s not possible or healthy.” Checking up on his friends' mentalities is something he will always do. It’s a conversation he values in his relationships since it keeps everyone in check, especially himself. 

As his roommate, I have had the opportunity to see Paris in action. His work ethic is something I have never seen before. Sometimes he will work throughout the whole night until morning, sleep for a couple hours, get some coffee at 7-Eleven, and then get back to work to finish up his orders. Some days are more normal than others but it all depends on how many sneakers need to be sent out. And on top of that, he makes sure to balance it with hobbies like playing basketball, listening to podcasts, watching interviews, listening to music, and hanging out with his closest friends. 

No matter what obstacles arise in Paris’s journey, he will continue doing what he loves doing: designing sneakers that make people fly and different from everyone else. One day Paris will develop his own line with either a big sneaker brand, or a brand of his own. So look out as he continues to make an influential impact in this culture. 

Written by Kai Matsukuma