How The Surgeon Saved Usher’s Super Bowl Halftime Show

Michael Saponara
·11 min read

When Usher calls, you pick up. The pop and R&B deity ran into trouble just over a week out from his Super Bowl LVIII Halftime Show performance in Las Vegas when it came to the footwear portion of his Off-White glittery jumpsuit.

Enter Dominic “The Surgeon” Ciambrone. The custom sneaker design savant has rose to prominence over the last decade as one of the most prolific cobblers in the world. Connected through mutual friend Lil Jon, Ciambrone was originally working with Usher on designing his deconstructed sneaker roller skates before the chaos ensued.

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About a week before having to take the Allegiant Stadium stage on Feb. 11, Usher found out Jordan Brand wouldn’t be able to deliver the custom chrome Jordan 4s he was looking for, so the hitmaker turned to The Surgeon to work his magic in time for the Big Game.

“I’m like, ‘Yeah, easy,'” he recalls in conversation with Billboard on Zoom. “[Jordan Brand] made it at a time they didn’t make a whole pair, and it was Chinese New Year so everything was closed and they couldn’t get it done. I think we had a week to do everything — and that shoe was incredibly difficult.”

Ciambrone continued: “The chrome material needed to shine so bright, and we remade that pair of shoes 20 times. We finished Saturday night before Super Bowl, and a friend of mine drove it from L.A. to Vegas straight to me.”

The Surgeon and his team worked overtime at his 20,000 square-foot L.A. studios finding the right chrome materials to match the proper Jordan 4 sole, while replacing the signature heel Jordan Jumpman with a bedazzled “U” for the man of the hour in Sin City.

Ciambrone handcuffed himself to the precious cargo’s carrying case while transporting the kicks to personally deliver them on game day to Usher himself hours before kickoff. After seeing his blood, sweat and tears in the form of the chrome 4’s on the Allegiant Stadium field, that’s when everything hit him at once.

“I was crying,” he admits. “It was a beautiful moment for me and my team, because we work so hard on these projects. I don’t think people understand how difficult this is.”

It was also a full-circle moment for Ciambrone, whose prom suit inspiration came from Lil Jon’s “Yeah!” video camouflage outfit. Find the rest of our interview with The Surgeon below, where he details the entire story of collaborating with Usher at the Super Bowl, teaming up with Drake and other projects he’s currently working on.

The first time Shoe Surgeon was on my radar was the Nike “Misplaced Checks” with John Geiger almost a decade ago. 

I kept hitting [Geiger] up, and finally he was like, “I got three shoes I want to do.” He’s like, “Yo, I want a Gucci swoosh on the wheat Air Force Ones and swooshes all over my Air Force Ones.” I cut a bunch of colors and put them on, and he wore it to Agenda. Nice Kicks hit him up, “You should release those.” He hit me up, “Can we release those?” I was doing everything by myself out of a garage, so I was like, “Hell no!” Then I was like, “Let’s try it.” Then we kept doing it and it shifted customs and releases.

Take me back to saving the Super Bowl Halftime Show for Usher, with the Air Jordan 4 you made for him.

I had become friends with Lil Jon over the years and he’s been a client for a while. I hit him up and he was like, “I’m in Vegas because I’m gonna be in the Super Bowl show.” This was weeks before the [game]. I was like, “Hit Usher and I can do his whole outfit.” He put me in touch and Usher was like, “Yo, I’m in L.A. I want to come by.” I have two 20,000 square-foot studios. One has a full basketball court and a bar and there was a class going on. He was blown away, like, “You could do more.” He was hyped and we talked about his skates.

Off-White was already doing his outfit. We kept designing stuff back and forth, and he was so busy preparing for the show it was hard to get information out of him. I was sending designs blindly.

A week before, he hits me up, “What are we doing?” I was like, “You tell me.” He was like, “Could you remake this?” And sent me a photo of the silver Jordan 4.

While we’re making that shoe, we’re making the skates. Finding the material was hard. We made it so many times, and it was coming out wrinkled. I think that’s also why it feels like they didn’t want to make that shoe. Even if they’re Air Force 1s, that material creases really easy. The material is so iconic. The team was working late to get it done, making it over and over. It was getting stressful, because he was like, “Did you get it done?” We’re like, “We’re gonna bring it.”

It got delivered the morning of Super Bowl at 3:00 a.m., and as soon as we woke up, we went straight to the Super Bowl, and I had it handcuffed to my wrist. We figured out a way to walk straight in — which is very tough to do. We walked straight back to Usher and gave him the shoes and saved the moment. It was a blessing. Lil Jon and Usher inspired me my senior year of high school, when I made a camouflage prom tux based off of Lil Jon’s camo tux in the “Yeah!” video.

What was the feeling when you finally finished and what did he say when you delivered them?

It was amazing. Once you saw the halftime show, that’s when it all came up for me. There’s no money to be made with how much time and material we spent, and how many times we made the shoe — that costs us a lot of money. But to see him perform in them after, I could’ve left the Super Bowl at that point. I’m done.

Have you guys been in contact since?

We been working on a few other things. We talked to Reggie Saunders at Jordan Brand, and they thanked us for getting it done. For us, it’s being able to create something quickly to help the brands capture those moments. There’s a lot of times where they can’t get things done.

Was it weird to connect a roller blade bottom to a sneaker sole and making it work?

It was different, because it was a super hightop skate, and we haven’t done that yet — but we’ve done so many football cleats, soccer cleats and all types of stuff. We also made George Kittle’s cleats that he played in at [the Super Bowl]. We did a gold-and-tan Chunky Dunks, but a Jordan 1 version.

Was this the most gratifying experience for you?

It was one of the first moments — I’ve been working on my emotional intelligence and allowing myself to feel these moments. Everything at an early stage in my career was numb to me. Allowing myself to feel those emotions and cry was really good to feel. It was gratifying, but I wouldn’t say most challenging.

Do you take a loss to make the kicks?

For me, it’s worth it. It’s about creating something going above and beyond. So many people would’ve said no. We wanted to get it done, at the best quality possible. We bought multiple pairs of Jordan 4s to redo the sole. There are so many details we had to get right. I wouldn’t even know the math of the actual cost of this to do.

What was the toughest part of this?

The chrome material is definitely the toughest part. Then it was the logo on the back. We made it slightly different than Jordan Brand did, based on time constraints. You couldn’t even tell. There’s so many details — but that chrome material is very unforgiving, especially when you make it by hand.

What are some projects you’re working on? I saw you working with [tennis star] Frances Tiafoe.

This was a lifestyle shoe. I think there’s still a lot to be done in the tennis space. I think Frances Tiafoe is doing a lot for the game in growing it. I believe all sports need to evolve. Whether [or not] it’s Frances, I think there’s a big opportunity to do their shoes.

What are some great stories on the rapper side that come to mind? I’ve seen you work with Drake, Fat Joe, Nelly and more. 

I have a cool story with Drake. This was about four years ago, and I saw he was really into Stone Island. He was with Jordan Brand, so he had his own OVO Jordan 12. I was like, “Let me create a Jordan Brand x Stone Island x OVO Jordan 12.” I did it based on how I saw it. We made one — a blue one, because I loved how blue looked with Stone Island material. The shoe is sick, because we used the collar from the jacket into the ankle collar of your foot. Nobody asked me to do it. And it went viral. Then Drake hit me up and he was like, “Yo, I need Black!” I’m like, “Of course, I got you.” I find some Black denim from Stone Island and nylon and I make the shoe.

They hit me up saying they were in town and asked me to go to Dave Chappelle’s show at the Peppermint Club. I pull up to Peppermint Club and nobody’s outside. I pull up with the box and I got to the front and there’s a guy working the front. I’m just like, “I’m here to deliver some shoes for Drake.” They’re like, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I’m walking back to my car because I valeted it, and Drake’s security walks from the back like, “I know who you are. Come with me.”

I walk through the back door with Drake’s security and hand-delivered the shoes to Drake. Everyone takes their phones at Dave Chappelle’s shows, and I’m in there videotaping everything and everyone’s looking at me like I’m not supposed to. I’m like, “Why is the security looking at me?” Oh, because my phone’s out. It was a funny experience. Drake was like, “You want a drink?” I was so nervous at that time I’m like, “I don’t drink.” Because at the time, I wasn’t drinking. He got on stage with Dave Chappelle and it was a fun night. It was a cool Drake experience to have.

Any NFL players you’re working with for this season on their cleats?

Working with Justin Jefferson, always Odell [Beckham Jr.], George Kittle. Recently, George called out the staff for wearing crappy shoes, and I was like, “Let’s fix that problem.” I do all of Jake Paul’s outfits and boots, but I’m working on getting Mike Tyson. Personally, [I’m] working on some music as a creative outlet for me. Getting into different art forms to express myself.

What do you think is the biggest difference in sneaker culture now compared to 10 years ago?

That’s a huge jump, because right now, it’s messed up. 10 years ago would be close to Misplaced Checks. Around that time is when customs started becoming more cool and shoes were at the peak still and getting hotter. Now I think it’s super oversaturated. Whether that’s for resale or just too many of them. It’s kind of boring and tired. Most kids want the Travis Scott lows. There’s gonna be a big shift and it’s already happening.

When you brought up that question, I’m thinking of the Cali Dunks. I remember going to a skate shop to get these Cali Dunks. That was the peak of it, because a lot of people didn’t know what they were, but it was hard to get. I remember having those and none of my friends had them. Everyone had the Jordans and Iversons, but nobody had the skate Dunks like I did.

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