Hildebrand works with RM Customs to design new shoes, raising money for Prince Albert school
The Prince Albert Raiders are happy to announce a partnership with Rhiannon Morozoff, creator of RM Customs.
Rhiannon made specially designed shoes for Raiders goaltender Max Hildebrand, seen below.
“I met up with Rhiannon and Mark (Peterson, team photographer) and Mike (Scissons, business manager) in Saskatoon in the summer, around middle to late August,” Hildebrand said. “Before I came back to Prince Albert, we went over some ideas I had for the shoes. A week or two after, she had already sent me a mock up. We made a few final touch ups on them, added a few things, and next thing you know she sent the final product. I gave it the okay, and that was that.”
The shoe features a number of designs, from a sword going through the Nike swoosh, the Raider pirate logo on the tongue, and the Prince Albert skyline on the back. Rhiannon talked about the process of determining the final designs, and how putting it all together was.
“We talked about what Max wanted and what his style was,” she explained. “We wanted to bring that forward into the shoe, something that fit into a Raiders theme, but also something that could be wearable and wouldn’t be too in your face. We included more subtle features in the shoes, like the swoosh looking like a sword which we thought would be cool. We put the pirate logo on the shoe over the current logo because we thought it would look more lowkey and would fit with the theme a bit more.
“It was a really fun process. It’s good to get to sit down with someone in person and talk about what their dreams are for the shoes. I can tell them that the sky is the limit when it comes to the creation process and put it all together.”
“I thought the sword through the swoosh was my most creative idea,” Hildebrand laughed. “This organization has some pretty cool colour waves I thought, and I really enjoy our third logo, I think it’s pretty sweet. On the back I had a little skyline with some trees and stuff like that. It says ‘Hockey Town North’ on the back too. That’s a quote in our rink here, and that means a lot to Prince Albert. I just wanted meaningful things for our team, so I thought I would do that.”
Additionally, the shoes are glow in the dark. Rhiannon talked about the cool feature, and how she was able to add that extra flair.
“I used Angelus leather paint. They just came out with special glow in the dark paint for leather surfaces. I wanted to try that out on a pair of shoes, and I hadn’t really used it yet. These were kind of like my test shoes, and they turned out so awesome. They also have neon ones that are UV reactive, and I have that on the shoes as well. So if Max went bowling, if you put them under a black light they glow really bright green. It’s in behind the sword back lighting it, which makes it look really cool.
“It’s always awesome to work with an organization that cares about its community and wants to bring it together for a project like this. I really appreciate how Max wanted it to represent Prince Albert, and coming up with the skyline was the perfect way to include that. I thought ‘Hockey Town North’ was a really cool saying. It was really nice to be able to work on this project and it was fun bringing everything together. It was a pretty smooth, easy process to create something really awesome for a special organization.”
As far as wearing them, Hildebrand says he hasn’t had much of a chance to show them off yet, and might have to wait until the snow is gone next spring before he can wear them more regularly.
“So far I think I’ve only worn them twice. I’m trying to keep them clean and the winter isn’t going to help much with that, but I’ll break them out when need be.”
For Raiders fans wanting to get their hands on these shoes, you can purchase raffle tickets at Raider home games throughout the month of November, where one lucky winner will receive a pair of replica shoes.
Proceeds from the raffle tickets that are purchased will be put towards a donation of shoes and boots to Princess Margaret School in Prince Albert.
“Hopefully my design does well and that we can get these kids some new shoes and boots for the winter time,” Hildebrand added. “Whenever I can help out in the community and do things like that, I always will.”
Your first chance to buy a raffle ticket for these shoes is this Friday, November 1 when the Raiders host the Swift Current Broncos. Tickets will be sold throughout the month of November, with the draw happening on November 23. Rhiannon will be at this Friday’s game against the Seattle Thunderbirds. She will have a set up in the lobby where you can chat with her about her creations.
If you want to check out some of Rhiannon’s other shoe projects, head over to @rm.customsss on Instagram, or www.rmcustomsss.ca.
