20 Ways People Have Customized the 'Denim' Levi's x Air Jordan 4 Retro

21.

After securing the "Blue Denim" Levi's x Air Jordan 4 Retro in January, many sneakerheads asked themselves an important question: "How can I destroy these?"

It didn't take long for owners to get to work on custom jobs, most going after the distressed look using a laundry list of techniques including sandpaper, grinders and files. There's also been a lot of bleaching, dyeing, deconstructing and patchwork.

Love or hate the collaboration, it's cool to see so many people having fun with their sneakers instead of simply chasing a quick flip. To give you an idea of what people are doing with their denim Jordan 4s, we've rounded up 20 of the best custom executions shared to date.

20.'Fade' by MT

Those faded spots are reminiscent of when mom used to make you wear those jeans with the worn out knees and cuffs.

19.'Worn' by Everyday Handsome

Everyday Handsome (I'm secure enough to call him that) took inspiration from that reliable pair of jeans we've all owned, but refused to ditch, at some point.

18.'Distressed' by Sk8

One of the first custom pairs to pop up on social media. Sk8 also shows how a simple lace swap can freshen the look.

17.'Love' by CrPurz

Owner of one of the best on-foot accounts on IG, CrPurz made his pair a true 1-of-1.

16.'Rebel' by Sneakers of Life

These are basically every kid's jean jacket in the 90s.

15.'Distressed & Bleached Laces' by Andres Munoz

The bleach spots on the laces help set this custom apart from the pack.

14.'No Washes' by Regular Tob

Dingy, unwashed-looking denim actually makes for a pretty great sneaker. It didn't do much for your wardrobe in elementary school, though.

13.'Pac-Man' by Sneakers of Life

Why Pac-Man? Who knows, but these are wavy.

12.'Distressed' by Julian Gaines

The first custom pair to hit the web, artist Julian Gaines showed us exactly why his profession is what it is.

11.'Distressed' by d3x_03

One can really appreciate how paying a little extra attention to the laces and eyelets give this pair a premium feel.

10.'Bleached' by Partypickle101

Just a really clean, natural-looking bleach job here with a tasteful amount of distressing.

9.'Distressed' by Upscale Vandal

In addition to the pins, Vandal kept things a bit more authentic by distressing some parts of the shoe more than others.

8.'Burnt & Distressed' by edmondlooi

Idea: The next time you get caught texting your side chick and your girl burns your sneakers, throw 'em on and say they're customized.

7.'Bleached, Distressed & Painted' by Daniel Cordas

Instead of settling on one concept, Cordas did a little bit of everything with this pair.

6.'America' by Zadehkicks

Perhaps reflective of how things are going here these days, a pretty chaotic tribute to the Land of the Free.

5.'Deconstructed' by Brick Owens

The distressed trend continues, but this time we get an inside-out "Deconstructed" mix of panels.

4.'Two-Faced' by Zadehkicks

Harvey Dent made his own luck, Zadeh made his own sneakers.

3.'Otis' by Mache

For this project, Mache drew inspiration from Jay-Z and Kanye West's iconic music video for the song "Otis."

2.'Juicy Red' by Kingpoetic01

Of all the Levi's customs, this is probably the most unique execution we've seen to date. It's also surprising that red denim hasn't quite had its moment in hypebeast culture yet.

1.'Bleached' by Tyler Mansour

There's always a lot of angst when it comes to dealing with white denim, but this all-bleached-everything effort by Tyler Mansour was a disastrous concept that somehow produced a great result. For those not willing to take the chance, there's an official "White Denim" colorway rumored to be releasing this June.