Live Events
Bespoke Trainer Embossing for Converse Events Worldwide
We were honoured to be invited to work alongside Converse, providing specialist live shoe personalisation and hot foil embossing at a series of exciting events for corporate clients, influencers, bloggers and invited guests.
What began as a fantastic personalisation project developed into a series of international activations, with our team travelling to London, Paris, Milan and Dubai to deliver the Converse experience.
At each event, guests could have suitable Converse shoes and trainers individually customised using our specialist hot foil embossing equipment, creating a personalised pair that was completely unique to them.
The activations proved incredibly popular, regularly attracting long queues of guests eager to have their Converse personalised.
A Specialist Embossing Machine Designed for Shoes
Personalising a finished shoe is very different from embossing a flat piece of leather.
The shape and construction of a trainer can make positioning particularly challenging, which is why we had a specialist embossing machine designed and engineered specifically for working with footwear.
The machine needed to provide the access and positioning required to emboss the appropriate areas of a finished Converse shoe while allowing our team to work accurately and efficiently during a busy live event.
Having equipment developed specifically for the application allowed us to take traditional hot foil embossing into an entirely different environment.
Testing Converse Shoes Before Every Event
A significant amount of work takes place before our team arrives at an event.
We liaise closely with the client and request samples of the Converse shoes that may be offered for personalisation. These are sent to our workshop well in advance so that our team can carry out trials and testing.
This process is extremely important.
Different shoe designs, materials, panels, seams and construction methods can affect whether a particular area is suitable for embossing. Something that appears straightforward may become considerably more challenging once it is positioned beneath the machine.
Testing allows us to establish exactly what can be personalised, where it can be embossed and how the shoe needs to be positioned.
Trial, Test & Prepare Before Going Live
We never want the first test to take place on a guest’s new pair of shoes.
Our workshop trials allow us to identify potential challenges and make any necessary adjustments to the machine setup before the live activation begins.
We can assess the positioning of the footwear, accessibility of the embossing area, temperature, pressure and overall quality of the finished impression.
Where necessary, the equipment can then be adjusted and configured so that it is ergonomically arranged for the products being personalised at the event.
By the time our team arrives on site, we already understand the product and have developed a process for working with it.
For high-volume live personalisation, that preparation is essential.
Live Converse Personalisation in London
Our Converse events took us to London, where our team provided live trainer customisation for invited guests.
Customers and attendees could watch as their footwear was individually positioned and personalised using our specialist shoe embossing equipment.
The interaction between the craftsperson, the product and the guest makes live personalisation particularly engaging. Instead of simply receiving a standard product, each person leaves with something that has been customised specifically for them.
Taking Our Shoe Embossing Service to Paris & Milan
The project subsequently took our team into two of Europe’s great fashion cities: Paris and Milan.
Travelling internationally with specialist equipment requires careful planning, particularly when the machinery has been configured specifically for the products being personalised.
The preparation carried out in our workshop meant we could recreate the Converse personalisation experience at different locations while maintaining a consistent approach.
Being invited to deliver the activation internationally was a fantastic opportunity for our team and demonstrated how our mobile live personalisation service can travel with a brand from city to city.
Live Converse Personalisation in Dubai
Our work with Converse also took us to Dubai, adding another international destination to the campaign.
From London to Paris, Milan and Dubai, we were able to take our specialist shoe embossing expertise directly to the events and personalise Converse footwear for guests in each location.
It was a memorable project and one that demonstrated the versatility of both our team and our equipment.
Hot Foil Embossing on Trainers & Footwear
Live footwear personalisation is a highly specialist service.
Unlike embossing an individual leather tag or flat accessory, a finished shoe is a three-dimensional product with limited access to many areas.
Successful personalisation therefore requires a combination of appropriate machinery, advance product testing, careful positioning and experienced operators.
Our Converse project brought all of these elements together.
The specialist machine, combined with extensive testing of sample footwear before the events, allowed us to provide a distinctive personalisation experience for guests.
A Hugely Popular Live Activation
The response to the Converse personalisation events was fantastic.
Queues were regularly extremely long, with corporate clients, influencers, bloggers and other invited guests waiting to have their footwear individually customised.
For us, seeing that level of interest is one of the most rewarding parts of providing live personalisation.
Guests can watch the craftsmanship happening in front of them and then walk away wearing or carrying something that has been made uniquely theirs.
International Live Personalisation for Fashion Brands
Our work with Converse demonstrates our ability to provide live embossing and product personalisation beyond the UK.
We can work with brands to develop a personalisation process in advance before taking the equipment and service directly to events in different cities and countries.
Our service can include:
- Pre-event consultation
- Product samples and testing
- Trial embossing
- Assessment of suitable materials and positions
- Specialist machine configuration
- Bespoke equipment for unusual products
- Hot foil embossing
- On-site equipment installation
- High-volume live personalisation
- Multi-city and international activations
This complete approach means we are involved long before the doors open to guests.
Creating Bespoke Solutions for Challenging Products
One of the most important lessons from projects such as Converse is that not every product can be approached in the same way.
Sometimes an existing machine is suitable. On other occasions, the shape or construction of the product requires a more specialist solution.
For Converse, having a machine designed and crafted specifically to accommodate footwear enabled us to offer a service that would have been difficult to achieve using conventional flat-bed embossing equipment.
This ability to test, adapt and engineer a solution around the client’s product is an important part of the service we offer brands.
A Memorable Project for Our Team
Working alongside Converse across London, Paris, Milan and Dubai was an incredible experience for our team.
The events were busy, exciting and extremely well received, and travelling internationally to deliver our craft made the project particularly memorable.
There were some enjoyable perks along the way too, including our team receiving Converse shoes of their own — a very welcome reminder of a fantastic series of events.
Most importantly, we were proud to contribute to an activation that combined one of the world’s best-known footwear brands with live craftsmanship and individual personalisation.
