Looking to up your street style? A new shop is out to help you get your kicks. In June, French-Senegalese Berliner Jean Loum opened Jiika Styles in Neukölln’s Reuterkiez, a store specialising in sneaker refurbishing and customisation. Think of Loum as a kind of fairy godfather of shoes: with a flick of his wrist, he’ll take your dirty, beaten-up trainers and heels and turn them into a work of art.
He uses a variety of water-based paints, airbrushing and other tools to bring his creations to life, adding pops of colour, animal print or florals. “Usually people come with an idea in mind. But sometimes they trust me, and they’ll be like, right, you just do whatever you want to do. That’s cool too,” Loum says. The newly-minted shoe guru, who was born in Paris and lived in both Bordeaux and Senegal, draws inspiration from both cultures.
A pair of heels decorated with the traditional French Fleur de Mariage pattern and white Nikes hand-painted with vibrant West African prints are perched in the shop windowsill. This eye candy is probably one of the reasons the store averages seven to eight walk-ins a day, Loum estimates, in addition to his regular clientele.
Since opening the store just six months after being laid off from his day job as a dating app fraud specialist, the sneakerhead has worked almost nonstop, but like many self-taught artists, he often suffers from imposter syndrome. “It’s a surprise every day. I never knew I had something artistic in me,” Loum says.
He got into the shoe game in 2019 as a side hustle, customising from his apartment. “I started with sneakers because that’s what I love. That’s my passion. But I figured out that I could do more than shoes. My goal is to create everything from head to toe. Everything handmade.” Loum now also makes clothes, bags and other accessories. “Slowly, it became clear to me that I could make a living out of this.”
A customisation will run you upwards of €80, a unique process that Loum compares to tattoo design: the more detailed and time intensive, the higher the price. A deep clean with no custom design is typically €25-50, a deal that will appeal to both the budget- and eco-conscious. Take those old soles out of the ‘zu Verschenken’ box and let Loum give them a colourful second life.
- Jiika Styles, Reuterstr. 25, follow on IG @jiika_styles
