Danny Lee opens NVRSTK

NVRSTK Studio (pronounced “Never Stock”) is a sneaker customization studio, offering a destination for sneaker-heads and artists to come and learn about the ins and outs of shoe design. Expanding from Staten Island to Brooklyn, Danny Lee recently opened a studio location on Smith Street in Carroll Gardens to provide an opportunity for people of all ages to get creative. Though smaller in size than his original studio, the magic here comes from his classes, which allow people of all ages to learn about the different ways to customize shoes.

NVRSTK is filled with a variety of designed shoes, which are also available for purchase online. The studio also customizes other things, like clothes, cars, and even briefcases. But at its core, Lee has one motto for his studio: custom sneakers made the right way.

Lee’s classes are an opportunity for everyone, from first-time creators to well-established artists, to join in on the fun of design. “With our classes and our workshop, we really like to bring people into a little bit of what we do and show them how to customize sneakers, whether it’s from the prep time to the actual design phase of it,” explained Lee.

Thinking and making
In a world infiltrated by screens and technology, Lee is building a community that is rekindling thoughtfulness and hands-on creativity. His vision for a community-driven creative space around New York is coming true at NVRSTK. Anyone can sign up for the studio’s classes, which can also be held as events like birthday parties or even corporate team-building retreats.

“A lot of times, when people take our classes, they don’t realize that there’s so much involved in customizing shoes,” Lee noted. Through classes, Lee teaches the basics of design, like painting, as well as more complex skills, like how to add fabrics and deconstruction.

The idea for the classes originally came from Lee’s own experience taking a sneaker design class. He immediately fell in love with it and from there, he slowly worked his way up to being hired to teach those same classes. “Shortly after, I was offered a job in Milan, Italy,” Lee explained. “I worked in Italy for about 6 months, and then transferred to their Soho location for a year. After a while, I began to feel stagnant with where I was. So I thought to myself, ‘What if I started teaching my own classes and workshops?’ There was a lot I learned outside of the classes I used to take that wasn’t being taught.”

Expanding from his original studio in Staten Island, Lee found the new studio space in Brooklyn through a friend of his at The Art of Tint, which operates in the same location as NVRSTK. According to Lee, it is the perfect space, given its proximity to schools, which he hopes will help him achieve one of his primary goals–inspiring the next generation of designers.

The difference between working with kids and adults when designing sneakers is significant. “When we teach kids’ classes, they’re all so eager to start. I usually have to reel them back in so I can explain how to do a specific technique, picking a design, etc. With adult classes, oftentimes what’ll happen is that they’ll sit there and stare at their shoe for like 20 or 30 minutes,” Lee described.“I always have to tell the adults, ‘Let’s go back to being a kid,’ you know what I mean? Your first shoe isn’t going to be your best shoe; this is your introduction to it.”

Rather than trying to create a perfect product, the classes are about the design process. The more classes a person takes, the more comfortable they become with designing, being okay with messing up, and learning from their mistakes. Lee also lends advice to people who reach out after a class about the next steps in shoe designing, further developing their creativity, and how to master their design skills.

“This is a form of art to me that is cooler than what you get taught in class. So a lot of the time, kids tend to take to this more because this isn’t something you necessarily need to know how to draw or shade, or traditional art skills even. Sometimes you want to make a cool color, and it’s special because now you have a one of a kind one designed by yourself,” explained Lee.

For teenagers in particular, the classes allow participants to express themselves, while adding an element of exclusivity within their friend group. Custom sneakers can also be a conversation starter. For Lee, the best compliments he receives are when someone compliments his shoes, to which he replies that he made them himself.

He’s also grateful for the many doors that sneaker design has opened for him, including working with celebrities and athletes, and in different countries. “Giving these kids that glimpse of hope that poor artists don’t have to be a thing. … There’s a way to turn your art into a business and see it through,” said Lee.

For him, it’s all about the moments when he can see the excitement on the children’s faces as they watch their designs come to life on the sneaker: “It’s rewarding to see anyone who takes these classes light up and show excitement to their friends and family as they show off a one-of-a-kind shoe.”

It won’t stop with the classes. Lee’s dreams are bigger than what he is currently doing with the studio. He hopes to start a summer camp for kids where they can learn what it’s like to be an artist as he shows them the ropes of design. “If I could start to teach further life skills, like showing the cost of materials, what it’s like living as an artist, going from start to finish with a design or idea–that would be great because it was something I was never taught in school. So if I could teach life skills based around art and sneakers and inspire the next generation, it’d mean the world to me,” Lee stated.

Brooklyn will get to see more of the studio’s work this coming May, when NVRSTK joins the School of Rock Block Party. There will be workshops for kids and an introduction to the world of customizing sneakers.

“For me, it’s about giving back to the community,” said Lee. “It’s not always about the next order that’s coming or the next event happening. We just received a stack of letters from the last class we taught. Stuff like that is what makes everything we do here worth it.” Though it’s only been a few weeks since its opening, NVRSTK Studio is already settling into the community, sharing a space where anyone can pick up a new skill, try a new art, and express themselves.

NVRSTK, 423 Smith Street