Renovation Station team created Brian May's trainers

Owner Steven White only knew for sure the Renovation Station’s team’s work was used when he was among the whopping 13 million strong TV who audience who saw the Queen legend Brian May perform in front of Buckingham palace.

“It is going to be difficult to beat I think really – given it was a Platinum Jubilee event in front of millions and millions of people worldwide,” said Steven.

READ MORE > Your images from the Jubilee celebrations in Warrington

The business, which was founded in 2019 and specialises in cleaning, redyeing and customising footwear, was handed the job from a restorer in Manchester who they often work with.

The shoes transformed by the Renovation Station team

But the restorer decided the job would be better for the Renovation Station team as they had more experience and were ‘kitted out’ for the job.

Steven White, owner of the firm, told the Warrington Guardian how Brian’s stylist was looking for someone to work on his Stella McCartney Stan Smith Adidas trainers.

He wanted the white trainers to be silver with grey laces.

Although there are already existing silver trainers out there, they are made from leather and Brian is vegan – so he decided to customise his vegan Stella McCartney trainers.

The team behind the shoes

His stylist sent a pair to the shop which arrived the Saturday before the Jubilee concert. The team thought it would be a brand new pair of trainers, but they were actually Brian May’s original trainers.

Steven said how the process involved stripping the original colour done and then spraying the shoes silver with an airbrush.

Special products were used and acrylic paint was brushed onto the trainers followed by acrylic paint protector.

Steven, who is from Latchford, and his team ‘cracked on’ with working on the trainers under a tight deadline and managed to complete them on Monday, May 30.

Brian May wearing the transformed shoes

They were picked up by a courier and taken to a hotel where Brian was staying ahead of a concert in Manchester.

“That is when the penny sort of dropped,” said Steven.

“We sort of didn’t 100 per cent believe it was real – so we had to wait to look for them on TV on the Saturday.”

Steven was in the pub with his family when Queen performed and Brian’s customised shoes were revealed.

“We have been restoring and customising stuff for years now and we’ve never really done something high profile,” Steven added.

“We have always carried on with what we are doing and thought that if we kept doing a good job then something would come about.

“This is also an opportunity to put our name out there which is cool.

“It feels like we’ve been chipping away for all of this time and now we have done a high-profile job.”

Renovation Station’s work was recognised by Brian’s stylist and the team was tagged in an Instagram post by her where their work was highlighted.

You can find the Renovation Station on Facebook here and on Instagram here.