How to Vet a Custom AF1 Artist Before You Pay

Vetting a custom AF1 artist before you commit money is worth the ten minutes it takes, and it does not require any special expertise, only a few direct questions and a look at what they actually show you. The first thing worth checking is whether the portfolio you are shown is genuinely theirs. Ask for a photograph of a recent piece taken at their own bench, not only the polished finished shot, or ask who painted a specific pair you like and whether you can see another angle of it. A real studio can produce this without hesitation.

The second check is whether the process is written down anywhere before you pay, not explained only once you have already committed. A studio confident in its own process will lay out what happens after you commission, what the timeline looks like, and what the base shoe actually is, the way the anatomy of a commission does here. If an artist cannot describe their own process clearly before taking payment, that is worth noticing.

Size confirmation is a small but telling detail. A careful studio confirms your exact size back to you in writing before any paint is opened, because a painted pair cannot be exchanged the way a factory shoe can, covered fully in custom AF1 sizing. An artist who skips this step, or who paints on a size you never actually confirmed, is skipping the one safeguard that protects you from the single most common and most permanent mistake in a custom commission.

Ask plainly what happens if you are not satisfied, and listen for a real answer rather than a vague reassurance. A studio with an actual policy, a touch-up promise, a clear position on refunds, will state it without being pushed, because it has thought about the question already. This studio's own position, non-refundable once painted with a thirty-day touch-up promise on the artwork itself, is stated plainly in the returns and care policy, and any studio worth commissioning from should have an equivalent answer ready.

Communication before you pay is itself a signal. A studio that answers questions about materials, timeline and sizing clearly and without pressure, the way what paint is used on a custom AF1 is written to be answered plainly, is generally the same studio that communicates well once you have paid and are waiting on your pair. One that goes quiet or gives evasive answers before money changes hands rarely improves afterward.

None of these checks are unusual to ask for, and a legitimate artist expects them. If a seller reacts to reasonable questions with pressure to pay immediately instead of answering them, that reaction is itself the most useful piece of information you will get before you commission.

For the wider pattern of what a scam typically looks like, rather than what a legitimate studio looks like, how to avoid a custom AF1 scam covers the warning signs directly.

Ask us anything before you commission. A studio that welcomes the question is one worth trusting with your pair.