Tell us about yourself.

“My name is Fedorah, I am 31 and I work for the government. I’m also an influencer for natural hair.”

How long have you been a sneaker lover?

“About 15 years now.”

Do you remember your introduction to the sneaker game?

“Yes, actually my first job was at Niketown New York in NY and that was the first time I was exposed to the sneaker world like that. I spent about 5 years in that store so I kinda grew up in that store and that’s when my love for sneakers grew.”

What is your favorite pair of sneakers?

“All Jordan 1s.”

What are you wearing now?

“I think Instagram sent this to me [coat], this crop top I got from Forever 21, the jeans are from Zara and I am wearing the orange and black 1s.”

What is your favorite sneaker colorway?

“The red, black and white 1s.”

If you could collaborate with any sneaker brand, who would you collaborate with and why?

“Nike, of course. I grew up with them, they gave me a great college recommendation and when the Haiti earthquake happened they donated so many pairs of sneakers out there. That meant a lot to me being of Haitian background.”

What do you think the sneaker game is missing?

“I think more variety for women. I feel like men get the better colorways and they get more options so I feel a little more catering to the women. A lot of times the smaller sizes in men’s are not always available so I feel like we get the shorter end of the stick sometimes. So, definitely more variety for women.”

Follow Fedorah on Instagram @NamedAfterAHat for natural hair tips, travel photos and cute outfits!

Tell us about yourself.

“My name is Ariana Jones and I am 28 years old. I’m from Seattle Washington but currently residing in Washington, DC and I am an HR and Operations Manager for a nonprofit.”

How long have you been a sneaker lover?

“I would say since I was like 7. That’s a good age I think because I have very vivid memories of asking for certain shoes, so since I was like 7.”

Do you remember your introduction to the sneaker game?

“Yes, I actually have two little quick stories. The first one, my cousin was a sneaker collector, so I used to break into his room and I wasn’t supposed to go into his room because I’m like little cousin you stay out of my stuff. I would go break into his room and just look at every single pair of shoes that he had. Since then it’s like all I want to do is wear kicks. Then I remember I think it was my 10th birthday, I think it was the Carolina 14s or something I had asked for for my birthday and my dad was telling me that they were sold out, out of stock and he couldn’t get them. I wanted them to go with my Charlotte Hornets jacket, it was the swishy jacket and he showed up to my birthday party with those 14s in hand and I lost my mind! I was so excited.”

What is your favorite pair of sneakers?

“I’m a 1s girl so I would say the Royals are my favorite pair of 1s.”

What are you wearing now?

“Right now, I’m wearing the Infrared 6s. It was the 2018 release, I think. I just have on a Topshop teddy bear coat, this little graphic tee from Topshop as well, got them both from Nordstrom and then I have some H&M sweats on with some Nike socks giving a little cozy girl vibe today.”

What is your favorite sneaker colorway?

“Oh, it’s always black, red and white so anything that resembles a Bred colorway, that’s my favorite colorway.”

If you could collaborate with any sneaker brand, who would you collaborate with and why?

“Oh, for sure I would want my own Jordan, so it would be them. I feel like right now they are more geared towards letting women find their voice in the sneaker game. I’m not really the type of feminine person, I’m very retro, very OG in regard to the types of kicks that I wear. I’m not a pink and purple girl and so I think Jordan would allow me to stay in that retro OG lane.”

What do you think the sneaker game is missing?

“Well right now I don’t really think the sneaker game is reallly missing anything. I think there should be more women that have a voice, able to put their ideas down on paper and be able to create a shoe. I feel like that’s the direction the sneaker game is going in right now and so I don’t necessarily think that it is missing anything. Well I think, let me take that back, I think that when people think of girl sneakers, they always think of the pink, the purple, the lime and everything instead of just letting females be cool with staying in the retro OG lane like I love, like that OG colorway. Just like the boys want to wear, we want to wear those too.”

To keep up with Ari’s love for OG colorways and inspirational posts, follow her on Instagram @AriJones!

Tell us about yourself.

“My name is Chrissy Sheffey and I’m 27. I was born and raised in Suitland, Maryland, which is right outside of DC and I am a mixologist.”

How long have you been a sneaker lover?

“I can say firmly since I was 10. I do have photos of me on my 8th birthday with some sneakers on but I remember recognizing and knowing what I liked at the age of 10.”

Do you remember your introduction to the sneaker game?

“Yes, so on my 8th birthday I have a photo of me wearing some white and black 13s. I had on a really cute cheerleader skirt and a really cute white top but I remember my sneakers and me kneeling down like this *kneels down in pose*. My mom bought me sneakers and that’s how I was introduced to the game and I’ve been loving it ever since then.”

What is your favorite pair of sneakers?

“Right now, I really like all of the Jordan 6s—any colorway. Mostly because I like how they look on my feet but just more recently how they are able to incorporate all the different textures within the 6s. There are some 6s that have suede and the rubber sole is the same color but adding a different texture just really makes the sneaker super fire for me. So I really love 6s. Definitely 1s as of recently but I’m a 6s girl.”

What are you wearing now?

“Right now I am wearing a varsity jacket by a DC brand called Ricardo D’Sean, a Hundreds long sleeve shirt, some Melody Ehsani sweatpants and the Turbo Green Jordan 1s. Also, I would never leave the house without my balance bracelets they make me sane, some lavender and all of that, all the time.”

What is your favorite sneaker colorway?

“For me, it’s less of a colorway and more of a texture kind of thing—it just brings more body to the sneaker and more flare. I don’t care if the whole sneaker is a color block, if it has a suede swoosh or a velvet toe it just brings something unique to the shoe. It doesn’t matter what the color is, once it has those textures my eye is on it immediately.”

If you could collaborate with any sneaker brand, who would you collaborate with and why?

“I would definitely collaborate with Nike, more specifically with Jordan. I feel like right now they are being more inclusive with bringing in black women and women in general to collaborate and express themselves with their shoes because that is what we do all the time. Whether it’s heels but definitely sneaker lovers. I’m in the hospitality industry and since my shoes are a representation of me and I’m not really able to wear any fly kicks, if I was to ever get this collab it would definitely be a slip resistant fire ass shoe that I can wear so I can feel comfortable and be safe. People are going to be like her shoes are dope! That is definitely missing right now.”

What do you think the sneaker game is missing?

“Like I said previously, we need more black women in these doors where they are able to collaborate with sneaker brands because the sneaker culture, in my opinion, is black culture. Then women just bring a different identity to it. We are able to wear heels and sneakers so collaborating with women who can do both, allows just a whole bunch of cool sh*t. Like I said, in the hospitality industry, I don’t want to just wear some clunky non-slips shoes. I’ve had my sneakers since I was literally 10, my feet haven’t grown so I want to wear fire shoes when I’m making and crafting fire cocktails.”

To see dope fits and custom drinks, follow Chrissy on Instagram @CocktailsWithChrissyM! Also, be sure to follow her business page @CharismaticCreations and check out her website CharismaticCreationsEvents.com if you’re interested in professional Mixologist services!

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!