When life gives you a pandemic what do you do besides overstocking on toilet paper? Well, you find a hobby of course! With so much free time spending it indoors the only productive way is to use this time wisely. Pick up a pencil and start drawing or pick up an instrument and start practicing, this is the perfect time to start the hobby you always dreamed of.
Just ask Christine, a Chicago-based advertiser, and marketer who made the most of quarantine after she ordered an embroidery kit off Amazon. Since March 2020, Christine has been learning to embroidered on her own, applying her creativity as an advertiser, and marketer to stitching. Unlike the ordinary embroidery with flowers, Christine looked to her Windy City upbringing and started to embroider sneakers; most profoundly Jordans.
“I wanted to embroider things that I liked; hip hop was a big one, but most of all it was sneakers. Growing up, I've always been around the sneaker game. My dad collected Jordans and he even has a glass case displayed in the living room for his favorite pair of shoes. So it's always been kind of a part of me. Also, it's a Chicago thing to be into Jordans, just because of how much pride Michael Jordan and the Bulls brought to the city in the 90s,” said Madebyxtine founder Christine.
Embroidery has been practiced across the world for years; each culture applying its uniqueness to each piece. In some places, embroidery is a sign of high social status while other places honor embroidery on uniforms, flags, and horse trappings. Along came Madebyxtine an outstanding handstitched art where Christine expresses her love for sneakers through embroidery; showing off the tiniest details that one doesn’t even catch on the sneaker itself.
From Air Jordan I's to White Cement III’s, it’s obvious that Christine pours her heart into embroidery. “If I don't like how something looks, I'll rip out all the stitches and redo it, even if it takes me double or triple the amount of time. I really try to push myself and work to get to where it needs to be so that it's in the right place,” Christine details.
What first started as a hobby has now built attention. Showing off her work on Instagram, but not once did Christine believe she would catch so many eyes even the eyes of HypeBae and Sneaks_Up; who both shared Christine’s pieces on their own Instagram page. As Christine explains, “I didn't think that this would be anything more than just a random hobby to test by time. But it wasn't until I started getting messages from friends and family and then started getting messages from people from New York or LA and now even some across the world. It's been absolutely crazy. It fills my heart with so much joy and excitement.”
With an unlikely art form, there is no doubt why Christine’s work grabbed so much attention. As she watched this attention grow, Christine took her creativity further and illustrated her own tote bags. These juicy tote bags as Christine calls them, come in colorways of blue and yellow featuring a one of kind print of Air Jordan 1 Retro 'Shattered Backboard' and tiny oranges. On October 31, 2020, Christine showed off these juicy totes at her very first pop-up. Hosted by Side Practice Coffee, Christine took the pleasure of being asked to sell her pieces and in perfect timing to honor Filipino American History Month. As expected, the pop-up was flawless and Christine sold out on all her products.
Christine explains further, “I was at a loss of words on how it turned out. It was really cool to be part of that community, but the support and love was unreal," she tells. "I honestly didn't expect that many people to come by. Overall, it was just like an outpour of gratefulness and gratitude towards everyone who has shown support, people who stopped by or made a purchase, and of course, even the people who just liked shared or followed me on Instagram.”
Carrying her culture close to her, Christine has incorporated her Filipino background by stitching little details into her work. For instance, in the White Cement III’s piece, Christine adds Sampaguita (white jasmine) flowers; a national flower of the Philippines that symbolizes purity, humility, and strength. Throughout every stitch, Christine remembers the important Filipino traits of discipline and care.
“There's so many long hours that go into this. All of the designs are hand-drawn every stitch is done by hand. Lots of love and lots of care goes into everything I do and I think that's something that has been instilled and influenced for sure by the Filipino values I've learned from my parents and my elders,” Christine adds.
During the day, Christine continues to work in the marketing and advertising world. Having been fortunate to have the opportunity to work for companies like Amazon, Nike, and L’Oreal, she plans to take this professionalism further. As Madebyxtine seeks its highest, something that other businesses wait years to accomplish, Christine is appreciating every moment of it and is ready to see where this creativity takes her.
“My main goal is to keep creating, keep learning keep growing, both in a professional setting and through my embroidery work. But for now, I'm just enjoying every step of the journey and can't wait to see what's next,” stated Christine.
Christine’s detailed art pieces not only fill us up with enlightenment but also uncovers the deep meaning behind a pair of fresh kicks. As Christine puts it, "I think the history design and the shoemaking, in general, is a beautiful art form in itself and deserves to be romanticized.”
Sneakers speak louder than just a fancy comfort on our feet and like every individual comes with a story, so do sneakers. Rather it was how you received your first pair or a pair you wore during a championship, every sneaker has it’s own unique story and Christine points this out splendidly.
“You know how they always say a picture's worth 1000 words? I say a pair of sneakers is worth 1000 words, or maybe even more. I just genuinely love that every sneakerhead or anyone who appreciates a specific sneaker has a story behind it as to why their favorite pair is their favorite pair. I love the emotional tie to sneakers that a lot of people have."
Having a story herself, she answers the question: what's one pair of Jordans you would wear forever? “Good question, I would say the White Cement Retro III’s. It’s just a classic shoe and I love the elephant print on it, also it was the shoe that Jordan wore in that famous slam dunk contest. A lot of history behind the shoe and it was actually one of the first shoes that I ever purchased myself.”
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