Also joining our lineup of incredibly creative women who are more than a sneakerhead, we have sneaker artist Stella Stockbridge. 

We got up close & personal with Stella, the self-taught portraiture artist  who’s forever pushing the boundaries on what sneakers are and what they can be, we got to learn more about her love for graffiti and street culture.

“I choose sneakers as my canvas because I just love them so much, they allow me to express myself in ways I don’t always feel I’m able to verbally.

I feel like the industry is becoming more inclusive slowly, but there still needs to be a lot of work. There’s so many brands that don’t do inclusive sizing and there’s not very many female designers on internal teams, so I’d like to see a lot more of that, and I hope the future will be a little bit more female dominated.”

We asked Stella what brands could do to level the playing field a bit more… “I just feel like there should be more opportunities for females to get involved, like the amount of sneakers I see that are made for women that are just not what women want at all. I feel like we need to have female input in designs and go back and let them be part of the process from the beginning.

I feel like the future will become more inclusive and diverse, and I really hope there’s more creativity that’s gonna be involved within the sneaker community. I definitely see it going that way.”

We asked Stella which designers or brands are exciting for her at the moment: “I just got my first pair of Helen Kirkham shoes and I love them so much. I got the GEL-LYTE IIIs I think they are, and I opened them and I was like, oh my god, I love them so much, they’re so creative and so unique, and I really wanna see more of that kind of stuff in the industry.

It just feels nice to be heard and represented in the community and to see someone that’s had similar experiences to me and (also looks like me!)

When it comes to those who inspire me in the community, I love Nicole McLaughlin’s work. It’s just really cool and so creative. I think Helen Kirkum’s gotta be on there as well of course. And my friend Mel, (@mlcka) she does these really cool sneaker sculpture creations, and it’s just crazy – and I feel like the industry’s just gonna get more and more creative.

I’m more than a sneakerhead because I bring colour and creativity to the game, and allow everyone to express themselves with their sneakers.”