We were lucky to catch up with Dkai Customs recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, DKAI thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you walk us through some of the key steps that allowed you move beyond an idea and actually launch?

Like many, the pandemic threw our lives for a loop. As full-time students focused on our respective fields—Kinesiology and Engineering—the sudden gap in time allowed us to revisit old hobbies. For us, that was visual arts. We began challenging each other to experiment with different art mediums. In the midst of this, we decided to get custom shoes made as a birthday gift for a mutual friend. Unfortunately, the artist we found in LA took our money but never delivered the sneakers. That experience was a turning point, we were rediscovering our artistic side, and we realized there was a lack of custom apparel artists here in Toronto.

Initially, it was a part-time venture, but deep down, we knew this had the potential to be something much bigger. To ensure we approached it properly, we focused on our branding, ideologies, and business plan, and drafted a preliminary strategy for growth. We took the time to learn the craft, create some initial pieces, and even handled the professional photography ourselves. We were lucky to have friends who had started their own ventures and shared valuable insights with us. Over the next few months, we gained traction mostly from friends and family, which led to word of mouth. To this day, many of our clients—whether B2C or B2B—still come through that model, but now we have a much larger community behind us.

Although we launched fairly quickly, we had to figure out many things as we went. That was part of the excitement—facing new challenges and learning what we needed to overcome them. For instance, in the beginning, many orders were heavily customized to the client’s vision. But we soon realized that while we were bringing their vision to life, we were also the “experts” and had our own style to maintain. Without that, the art could feel lost.

Even now, we continue to get new types of orders and ideas to explore, but with each iteration, we like to think we’re getting a little better at it.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Our names are Abishake and Koshy, and we are the founders of DKAI Customs. We’re both apparel artists, primarily focused on customizing sneakers, though over the years, we’ve expanded to work with many different materials. Our business began during the pandemic through a series of fortunate events, and it really opened our eyes to the lack of access to original, individualized fashion choices. The Toronto community, like many others, has been influenced by fast fashion and “hype beast” culture. But since diving into the art world, we’ve also discovered a side of Toronto that’s bright, colorful, and unique. That’s why we wanted to create one-of-a-kind sneakers! Every design we’ve done has never been replicated for another client. We also make sure our designs are budget-conscious—we believe we can create something special for a wide range of budgets, giving you the most bang for your buck. We know that custom pieces are an investment, so our goal is to make sure you love your unique art piece 110% at the budget you can afford.

Over the years, we’ve built a brand that embodies “us”. From customer service to live activations, everything we do carries a piece of Abishake and Koshy. There are many phenomenal artists out there, but our strength lies in our constant drive to come up with out-of-the-box ideas and find the tools and strategies to bring them to life. That’s what has kept us relevant and memorable. Our favorite part of the business is the creative process—constantly ideating and inspiring each other to see how we can push DKAI to the next level.

Looking forward, we want to continue expanding our artistic services. So if you have a creative vision but need help bringing it to life, feel free to reach out! We’re also hoping to offer classes, facilities, and more opportunities to show others how fun this field can be. With the right resources, we believe anyone can integrate creativity into their brand, lifestyle, or fashion.

Customizing has brought us so many new opportunities, friends, and exposure to different cultures. The thrill of working on something new each time is something we hope shows in everything we create.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Resilience comes in many forms, and we experienced it firsthand during one of our first major projects early in our creative careers. We connected with a client through social media after they saw our work and expressed interest in our services. After a lot of back-and-forth communication, we finally reached an agreement on what they wanted, and we were excited—it felt like our chance to make a name for ourselves. However, it quickly became clear that we had a much bigger challenge ahead than we initially anticipated.

This was one of the first times we had the opportunity to showcase our creativity, grit, and talent to a large audience, but we were still navigating the uncharted waters of running a business. The client gave us a 7-day turnaround time for 5 pairs of custom shoes—when we typically ask for 4 weeks to complete just one pair! After finalizing the mock designs, we spent a few days sourcing the shoes (during a time when there was a shortage in Canada), which left us with just 5 days to finish the order. We began prepping the shoes as we normally would, but due to the tight deadline, we decided to invest in tools that would help speed up the process. We bought a Dremel for sanding and an airbrush to expedite painting.

However, our lack of experience with the Dremel caused us to over-sand the shoes. We thought it would be fine since we planned to airbrush rather than hand-paint. We also decided to experiment with a leather dye that, according to our research, would reduce the number of paint layers needed. But when we applied the dye, it wouldn’t stick to the leather because we had worn it down too much with the Dremel.

At this point, we felt defeated. With only 3 days left, we had nothing to show for the order and didn’t think we could finish it in time. Our only option was to start over. We bought 5 new pairs of shoes at a premium price from sneaker resellers since none were available immediately. With the support of our friends and family, we prepped the shoes from scratch and worked nonstop for the next 3 days, pulling all-nighters to complete the order just in time for delivery. The client never found out about the challenges we faced; instead, they praised us for meeting the tight deadline and even placed another bulk order for shoes for their entire organization.

Fast forward 3 years, and we’ve worked with this client on several projects, completing over 100 custom pairs. We’re incredibly grateful—not only to our friends and family for their support but also to ourselves for not giving up. We learned how to push through mistakes, inexperience, and unexpected obstacles, and that resilience has been key to our growth.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

As creatives, our family, friends, and followers often see the glamorous side of what we do—showcasing our creativity, collaborations, new projects, or the events we participate in. But what many people don’t realize is that our work doesn’t fit into a neat 9-to-5 schedule. We don’t get to clock out and pick up where we left off the next day. When we’re working on a creative project, it’s all day, every day, until it’s finished. And even before we start the project, there are countless hours spent finding new clients, prepping for these opportunities, sourcing materials, and overcoming hurdles to execute what we ultimately showcase to the public.

There’s also a huge financial, emotional, physical, and creative investment that goes into it, even before a project is secured. There have been several times when we’ve spent days or weeks preparing for a potential client—creating mock-ups, gathering materials, and doing all the necessary prep work—only for the client to back out, leaving us with unpaid hours, materials spent, and nothing to show for it. It can be a tough pill to swallow, and at times, it’s discouraging when projects fall through. But we remind ourselves that it’s all part of the process, and we have to move on to the next creative expression.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://dkai.ca
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dkaicustoms/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dkaicustoms/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKkZkyrqotU4HgjlSIhIj5Q or @dkaicustoms
• Other: Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@dkaicustoms?_t=8d3fqeaaomj&_r=1

Image Credits

Personal Photo – “Raw T.O. Feb 24” – Credit: Raw Artist Canada – Derek Samaha

All Additional Photos were taken by us but specifically Daniel Koshy.