| | | | | Julian Michael Caldwell in New York, NY @jswisshere |
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| “It’s my life, I am a sneaker fiend.” That’s how co-creator and executive producer Karese Henry-Adediran describes the inspiration for the series. Her journey to this point starts with her as a young girl with two siblings — and parents less than willing to feed her hunger for sneakers. “When you’re in junior high school or high school, if you don’t have the fly kicks, you’re getting made fun of,” recalls Henry-Adediran. “And my parents were not trying to buy three pairs of Jordans for three kids. So I always knew what was fly, but I couldn’t afford it at the time, until I started working for myself and building my collection.” | | It’s my life, I am a sneaker fiend. - Sneaker Fiends co-creator and executive producer Karese Henry-Adediran | | She remembers vividly what sneakers started it all: a pair of black and red Nike Air Max Deluxes she got her junior year of high school. “When I got those, there was a feeling like ‘you made it,’ like I finally got a pair and no one can make fun of me.” That love of sneakers and fashion in general is what co-creator and two-time Emmy Award winner Sasha Mitchell-Fuller says drew her and Henry-Adediran to each other back in 2005 when they met while working on The Montel Williams Show. Mitchell-Fuller remembers their first conversation revolving around a mutual respect for each other’s outfits, and the instant bond born because of it. |
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| For two years, Mitchell-Fuller and Henry-Adediran have worked at OZY, producing The Carlos Watson Show. They say Carlos encouraged them to explore how they could build off their passions to create a new program. “We’re inspired by women who love fashion, who love culture, who love art, who love music, and we felt like there was a void,” explains Mitchell-Fuller, who is also an executive producer. “There wasn’t a show featuring women like me and Karese, or [episode 3 guests] Keia Kodama and Genevieve Chanelle.” | | We as women are driving the culture. We’re dressing our kids, we’re dressing our husbands. We should have a say in what gets designed and pushed out into the market. - Sneaker Fiends co-creator Sasha Mitchell-Fuller | | The creators also both represent for mothers who love their sneakers. Henry-Adediran has two sons, while Mitchell-Fuller does the shoe shopping for a house of five. “I have two boys, I have a husband, I have a daughter,” says Mitchell-Fuller. “I’m one person, but I’m not only buying kicks for myself. I buy all the kicks for everybody in this house. So we as women are driving the culture. We’re dressing our kids, we’re dressing our husbands. We should have a say in what gets designed and pushed out into the market. It's important that we have women at the top level at these brands so we are represented appropriately.” |
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| Before filming Sneaker Fiends, producer Alesia “Z” Glidewell had directed or created countless programs for brands like T-Mobile and Honda and amassed tens of millions of views on YouTube for original series like Lana Steele: Makeup Spy. But she’d owned only one pair of sneakers in her life worth bragging about: a pair of camouflage-colored Jordan 1’s. She was a bit of an outsider, but taking an idea and bringing it to screen in its most authentic form is her domain. In the end, she was just as much impacted by the series as the viewers she hopes to inspire. “I’ve enjoyed every bit of it. It’s art to me. It’s like this beautiful convergence of art and fashion, and I definitely bought a pair on a shoot myself and started exploring more.” Glidewell says a pair of New Balance 327 sneakers caught her eye on set, as much for their practicality as their style. According to Mitchell-Fuller, though, much of the crew already came in with sneaker collections ready to impress. “For those first few days in New York, the whole crew — it was literally like everyone — went out and bought kicks,” she remembers. “Everybody on set brought the fire. To just see the whole crew be so into it made the whole process such a blessing.” Henry-Adediran was on set for all of the shoots, soaking in the energy in rooms with many of the same sneaker fanatics that she’d been following on social media for years. “It was like you haven’t seen your friend in a long time, but I’ve never met these people before,” says Henry-Adediran. “To hear the different ways of how they build their collections, or their connections to the ones they love the most, and how much they’re willing to spend to get something. To hear those stories; this is exactly what people need to see.” |
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| Now that episode 1 of Sneaker Fiends is out, sneakerheads and sneaker novices alike have begun getting their healthy dose of entertainment and education, but the producers say the impact began as soon as they hit the streets to film. While we were taping on the street, I could see the impact of what we were trying to do just when we were recording,” Mitchell-Fuller remembers. “People were walking by — people knew Kia, people heard what we were talking about. People were asking, ‘Oh, my God, where is this going to air?’” | | I’ve walked into a million sneaker stores, but I’ve never walked into a store that was all really cool kicks that were for me as a woman. - Sneaker Fiends producer Alesia “Z” Glidewell | | In fact, one of the series’ first big moments of inspiration came not for a passerby or a viewer, but for the show’s producer. “Walking into WOODstack IVY, into the women’s exclusive store, I was like a little kid,” Glidewell recalls about filming the second episode, featuring Tianna Weatherspoon. “We were filming and I was trying to keep working, but inside I was excited. I’ve walked into a million sneaker stores, but I’ve never walked into a store that was all really cool kicks that were for me as a woman, and inside I had this feeling I’ve never felt before.” |
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| Mitchell-Fuller says that when she sees people wearing sneakers on red carpets or in weddings and embracing sneaker culture worldwide, she wants the world to understand where the influence comes from. | | We’re trying to give all the women who have been shaping the culture for years their flowers. That’s what Sneaker Fiends is for. - Sneaker Fiends co-creator and executive producer Karese Henry-Adediran | | “What’s important for us is to talk about the origins, and obviously highlight the women who are leading the pack, and a lot of them happen to be women of color,” explains Mitchell-Fuller. “We’re trying to give all the women who have been shaping the culture for years their flowers. That’s what Sneaker Fiends is for,” says Henry-Adediran. “I want people to see that women have a lot more to say in the sneaker industry. There are always men designing sneakers for women, but I notice companies now are tapping women to be the designers for the shoes, and I just think this will show that our voices matter in this type of marketplace.” Follow @houseofsneakerfiends on Instagram and tune in to a new episode of Sneaker Fiends each Tuesday on YouTube.
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EPISODE ONE NOW STREAMING! Featuring the WNBA's Didi Richards & Harlem Haberdashery's Ashlee Muhammad | | WATCH HERE |
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