Brad Duncan parlayed a passion for shoes and storytelling with a desire to spread joy by making custom sneakers for some of LSU athletics’ biggest names.
His once simple hobby of customizing shoes for his close friends and family quickly turned into something much bigger than he could’ve ever anticipated, and it’s taken Duncan on what he can only describe as a “once in a lifetime journey.”
However, it didn’t start that way; Duncan described himself as a tunnel-visioned kid. Growing up in Baton Rouge, it was hard for him not to be thinking about sports.
“I was just so passionate about playing sports that, you’re not thinking long term, you know,” Duncan said. “You’re not thinking what am I going to do as an adult, and maybe art’s the calling that’s going to be the way I make a living.”
While Duncan always appreciated art, pursuing something in that landscape wasn’t really on his mind.
Duncan attended Northwestern State University in his home state of Louisiana to pursue a degree in business management, but he didn’t graduate.
It didn’t deter Duncan, though; he knew he was finally entering a new chapter in his story, growing out of his unfocused adolescence.
“I wish I would’ve been a little bit more attentive in high school listening to guidance counselors and things like that, but I wasn’t really one with a plan,” Duncan said. ”I was just saying, ‘I’m gonna play sports for the rest of my life, and we’ll figure out the rest later.'”
Something that Duncan was always really focused on, even during his youth, was sneakers. During junior high, his obsession began.
“The more unique and the less likely for you to grab a pair, like, that was the thing that intrigued me,” Duncan said.
He wasn’t just obsessed with sneakers; Duncan liked unique pairs that told a story and had a message behind them.
“I like to stand out, go against the grain and be a little different,” Duncan said. “If you’re mass producing a million pairs and everybody and their mother has it, like that probably wasn’t the shoe that I was gonna go after.”
Duncan had a unique story of his own too. He and his wife Paige were finally having a baby after battling through multiple miscarriages over the past two-and-a-half years. But they were now dealing with an ectopic pregnancy, in which the fertilized egg grows outside of the mother’s uterus. But against all odds, their son Rhodes Bradley was born.
“I was thinking around that unique thing that I love, and I said, ‘You know what, I wanna give my wife a unique gift for the newborn baby,” Duncan said.
Duncan’s social media was flooded with sneaker content from reviewers, resellers and collectors. But there was one thing he kept seeing that he couldn’t get enough of: customizers.
“You get into this rabbit hole with the internet,” Duncan said. “You could pretty much find absolutely anything.”
Once Duncan fell into it, there was no coming back.
Duncan fully believes you can learn anything you want on the internet. How-to videos taught Duncan everything he needed to know, from how to prep a shoe before customizing it to what supplies he needed and where to get them. Duncan realized he could get started for less than $100 and didn’t hesitate. Duncan began playing around with a simple Triple White Air Force 1; the rest is history.
“The birth of my son kinda re-sparked that interest and intrigue into getting back into the arts world,” Duncan said.
Through some well-connected friends, neighbors and Baton Rouge figures, Duncan’s hobby suddenly became much more significant than he could’ve ever anticipated. Duncan was already working a regular nine-to-five job while getting massive bulk orders from local businesses and companies requesting custom pairs for their employees and staff.
It wasn’t something Duncan could face all alone. While his wife Paige was his biggest supporter and always there for him, Duncan realized he also had other responsibilities, and he’s stopped taking deadline-focused orders to spend more time as a husband and father.
The change took the pressure off of Duncan and allowed him to focus on quality over quantity, as the best had yet to come. Through his connections, Duncan has supplied a pair of custom kicks to Angel Reese and had his design selected by Joe Burrow for the NFL’s annual My Cause My Cleats initiative.
One partnership that stood out to him was with LSU football head coach Brian Kelly. Throughout this past football season, Duncan designed multiple pairs of custom sneakers for Kelly to don during the team’s famous Tiger Walk before every home game on Saturdays, with the shoes being auctioned off for charity afterward.
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Following the season, Duncan finally got to meet and talk to Kelly for the first time, following all the work he did for him the previous fall. Kelly expressed the gratitude he had for Duncan and his craft.
“To hear him speak about how he enjoyed them was kind of a cool moment for me,” Duncan said.
Regarding Baton Rouge’s finest, Duncan has taken every interaction to heart.
“I haven’t met a bad one, they’ve all been super nice,” Duncan said. “They’re all tremendous people.”
Duncan may have to create tens and tens of pairs of individually customized Air Force 1s and Air Jordan 1 Lows when fulfilling bulk orders.
It takes him 15-30 hours to complete one pair, but sometimes, starting and finding inspiration for a single pair can be difficult. Duncan finds the process very fulfilling, almost therapeutic. He always tries to ask his clients what they’re looking for and what they’ll wear.
“I don’t show people their design until they open it up right in-front of them because to me, I love that moment,” Duncan said.
While he eats a lot of costs, Duncan feels it’s worth the small investment if it means leaving his customers speechless when they open that box.
“It’s not about a pure profit for me as much as it is the enjoyment,” Duncan said. “I keep telling people my message is that I’m trying to help you build your brand through my works of art. I want to give you a unique way to express your brand that’s outside the norm. It’s a walking billboard, so use it accordingly.”
So, how did Brad Duncan do all of this? What’s the mindset of someone going after a dream that seems so far-fetched?
“Don’t worry about the end result, just enjoy the journey and begin,” Duncan said. “As long as you’re doing it a little bit at a time each day, eventually it’ll just start to click. Just create.”
