#SneakerheadProject: Erica Purnell
SHOT BY: @STILLBYHELLY
Tell us about yourself.
“Hey guys! My name is Erica Purnell, I’m an artist from Brooklyn, New York and I’m 37 years old.”
How long have you been a sneaker lover?
“Too long, nah I’m kidding! Probably since the 6th grade so y’all do the math. I used to take the bus and train to the city for junior high school and you know once that door opened up I saw Jordan’s, Nike’s, Fila’s, everything so it kinda started from there on.”
Do you remember your introduction to the sneaker game?
“So, 6th grade I started really being into kicks like loving them and being obsessed with them but I was only getting like two pairs of shoes per year. I would say probably when I got to my mid-20’s I started working, getting my own budget and I just started buying everything I couldn’t get back in the day.”
What is your favorite pair of sneakers?
“Oh my gosh, I would say just a good pair of Nike SB High’s. I actually have more than a few in my collection.”
What are you wearing now?
“I’m wearing the Nike Denim SB High’s, a 5-panel from the Keith Haring collection and matching inverse top.”
What is your favorite sneaker colorway?
“I would say blue and white. When I was in high school I used to wear Uptown’s all day and they didn’t have all these crazy colors, so a classic pair of white Uptown’s with a navy blue check.”
If you could collaborate with any sneaker brand, who would you collaborate with and why?
“I would probably say Fila or maybe PONY. Nike kinda has the market a little over saturated with a lot of collaborations but I actually have some Fila collaborations and they’re actually really dope. I grew up in junior high school wearing a lot of Fila so I would love to pay homage with my art and do something with them.”
What do you think the sneaker game is missing?
“I think it’s kinda missing originality again. It went from a place of simple obscurity and then it went to over flooded. I kinda wish some of that obscurity was back. Not in a sense of things you can’t cop but just the over hypeness of things. I just really miss the culture of just rocking kicks not “Oh you dropped $500!”, it’s like no I get my best finds for $59 from a bin somewhere. The culture was really just about the love, it wasn't really none of this fighting, shut downs and stuff. It was really just rocking kicks.”
To show Erica love on her ILL artwork, check out her website EricaPurnell.com and follow her on Instagram @EricaPurnell!