New Haven Register (Sunday) (New Haven, CT)
DANIEL GAMACHE
CT SNEAKER DESIGNER’S SHOES HAVE BEEN WORN BY LEBRON JAMES, BEYONCE
In December 2012, Lebron James posted a picture of custom “Lebron X” Transformers-inspired sneakers with the comment, “I need them ASAP.” The sneakers were the design of Danbury resident Daniel “Mache” Gamache.
Over the past two decades, Gamache has turned his love for art, sneakers and sports into his full-time career making custom-designed shoes for celebrities. Born in Poughkeepsie, N.Y, he went from painting shoes in his mother’s basement to creating his own shoe brand and designing shoes for WWE stars, musicians, NBA and NFL athletes in his warehouse in New Haven county.
“Art was always my thing, and I said I wanted to either be a cartoonist or a baseball player,” he said.
His dream of becoming a pro-baseball player came to an end when he tore his rotator cuff his senior year of college. He received his master’s degree in art and later went to work at a school for autism. One day at work, he was reading an article from a magazine about someone making custom shoes. He said being a person who played competitive sports his whole life, he thought to himself, “Well I could do this better.”
“There was no YouTube at the time on how to make custom shoes so I just went to Michaels, bought paint that had no business being on a pair of shoes, got some AirMax Nikes and just started painting,” he said.
A visit to a New York barber shop in 2002 went from his barber asking, “When did Nike release those?” to Gamache making custom sneakers for the rest of the barbers at the shop. The sneakers became so popular, he said he had to make business cards to spread the word. He charged $50 to $75 for custom paint jobs and started to get a following and client base.
Once social media became popular, Gamache said he connected with other shoe designers who gave him tips. He started with painting solid colors on sneakers but once he started “getting comfortable with the paint,” he started to incorporate his artwork. Gamache has developed his own style working with Molotow paint pens and airbrush paint. He said the goal to making good quality custom shoes is to make them look like the design came from the brand itself.
In 2008, Gamache decided to take a trip to New York City where he heard rapper, singer, songwriter and fashion designer Pharell was making an appearance for his streetwear brand, Billionaire Boys Club. Gamache took it upon himself to hand deliver a pair of custom Reeboks with a portrait of the musician.
“It was a risk because it was not guaranteed that he would get the shoes,” he said.“I had to take time off work, but I asked a security guard if they would
please give the shoes to Pharell and through the glass windows, I saw them given to him.”
Gamache said he remembers Pharell posting the custom sneakers on his BBC blog and later noticed he was getting featured on other blogs. He started posting more of his creations on Instagram not realizing who would come upon his page.
Around 2011, Gamache left his job to focus on Mache Customs full-time. He moved back in with his mother with his wife and would be in the basement “whipping up” shoes until 4 a.m., he said.
“I give a lot of credit to my wife (Liz). She did not only push me to follow my passion but gives me ideas on designs or color schemes,” he said. “She is one of the main reasons I am who I am today.”
The following year was when an assistant for NBA star, James, got in contact with Gamache. He customized another pair of “Lebron X” sneakers but with an Iron-Man inspiration. James wore them at the 2013 All-Star game in Houston.
After Justin Tucker of the New York Giants received a pair of custom cleats from Gamache, he started giving out the designer’s number to other teammates. Since football players’ faces are covered by their helmets, Gamache said players used the cleats as a form of expression.
“Once people saw I was designing custom cleats, a friend who knew I was a Minnesota Vikings fan connected me with the team and then I started making custom cleats for them,” he said.
He grew a relationship with Stefon Diggs, who now plays for the Buffalo Bills, and said he was designing new cleats for him all the time. Gamache said Diggs enjoys incorporating current events to his cleats. “When Betty White and Bob Saget died, he had me to design cleats honoring them,” he said.
This has brought Gamache to make cleats for many athletes in the NFL including Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback, Tom Brady. Gamache now nicknames his brand the “Lamborghini of the NFL cleats.”
Buzz has led Gamache to design for WWE stars like Nikki Bella, Shane McMahon, Becky Lynch, Kofi Kingston and more. He collaborated with Under Armour creating a customized pair of Under Armour Curry 4s with Xbox-inspired designs for the launch of a gaming console package.
During MLB’s All-Star weekend in 2022, Gamache unveiled six limitededition custom Air Jordan cleats inspired by the career of shortstop and Hall of Famer, Derek Jeter. He highlights his World Series wins of his career.
“I got to speak with Derek for an hour, and he was asking me so many questions, which shows me he was into what he was seeing,” he said. “He is the Brady of baseball and even though I meet celebrities all the time, this one was different.”
In July 2022, Gamache collaborated with the Chicago White Sox to create a sneaker inspired by the team and the southside of Chicago.
“I really had the opportunity to make shoes for my favorite baseball team,” he said. “They came to me and wanted to be the first pro-team with their own shoe.”
Gamache said he used to keep a list of names of people he wanted to work with or design for; he has crossed most names off his list. Those names include rapper Jay Z, singer Beyonce, WWE wrestler and actor John Cena and rapper Quavo.
In August 2020, Gamache released his first pair of Mache Brand shoes, the Mache Run Centralia, inspired by a deserted town in Pennsylvania that’s home to a graffiti-covered highway. Each month, he releases a different shoe with a different story. For 72 hours, customers can pre-order the shoe through the website. The shoes are made in Philadelphia and the soles get imported from Italy.
“Even though I was known as the guy who customized shoes, people would ask me, ‘When are you coming out with your own?’” he said. “What makes my shoes different is that they are inspired by different stories.”
Even though Gamache now has his own sneaker brand, he said it will not stop him from customizing shoes for those who request it. This year marks 20 years since Gamache put paint on a brush and started painting sneakers.
“With the NFL season starting, I am going to be one busy man,” he laughs.