I wrote yesterday about the Kobe Bryant homage created by Sole Junkie Customs. The designer has gotten a bit more personal with his latest pair of Nike customs. Sole Junkie is celebrating his friend Retro on a hot pair of custom Nike Dunk Highs.

Sole Junkie took a photo from Retro’s MySpace page and applied an accurate representation on the left shoe. The other shoe features the word Retro running over the purple swoosh and pink panel. The insole features the Retro Music design with a blue vinyl LP pattern in the background.

Readers can check out Sole Junkie Customs and find information on Retro by checking out the designer’s blog linked here. I love the versatility of Sole Junkie to turn from a high-profile character like Kobe Bryant to an up-and-coming artist like Retro when working on custom shoes.

Sole Junkie Customs has gotten behind the NBA’s Most Valuable Player for 2008 with a new pair of Air Force Ones. These custom Nikes start off with a simple black/white colorway with a yellow swoosh that is evocative of the Lakers gold uniforms.

Sole Junkie applied images of Kobe Bryant in profile on both shoes. These pictures are fantastic representations of the Lakers guard while he is waiting for a teammate to hit some free throws or enter the game during a substitution. The Kobe Bryant signature on the heel is written in the same same color as the swoosh to create an extension of the color line from the middle panel to the end of the shoe.

You can check out Sole Junkie’s latest sneakers by checking out pictures at the blog linked here. The fine touches and techniques used by the designer on these Kobe Bryant-inspired shoes have evolved from dozens of custom sneakers projects in the past.

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Tito Puente’s influence on Latin musicians throughout the world apparently rubbed off on the designer behind Sole Junkie Customs. The prolific customizer decided to make a pair of custom Air Force Ones to honor the legendary mambo musician. These shoes aren’t available for purchase but they are admirable memorials to the deceased music icon.

Sole Junkie did a great job showing the dual sides of Puente. The right shoe features Puente belting out a tune with his signature timbales at his side. The left shoe has a picture of Tito Puente in a more relaxed state as was common when he was featured on television shows and revues. Both shoes have Tito Puente signatures that help cement Sole Junkie’s effort at remembering one of his favorite musicians.

You can check out Sole Junkie’s work including the Tito Puente Air Force Ones at the designer’s website linked here.