STELLA STOCKBRIGDE

( Talented Creatives ) - Friday 17th November 2023

Words by Isaac Solanki.

Stella Stockbridge is an extremely talented creative individual, who possesses the unique ability to completely transform sneakers into mesmerising diorama display art. Instead of following the conventional path of enrolling in university straight after finishing sixth form, Stella made the bold decision to wholeheartedly pursue her passion and this leap of faith has definitely proven to be a wise move. Stella's talent and relentless dedication has captured the attention of major brands like Foot Locker, Champion and JD Sports, who have all provided her with incredible opportunities to work on collaborative projects with industry giants. Her work really does speaks volumes, showcasing her unmatched ability to push boundaries in the world of modern art and leave an indelible mark on the industry she so passionately adores. Earlier this week I sat down with the artist and content creator to speak about the who’s, what’s, where’s, when’s, and why’s of her career to date.

Who is Stella Stockbridge and who inspires you to do what you do?

“So, my name is Stella Stockbridge and a lot of the work I do is kind of like a mash up of all of the things I love; a lot of dioramas, sneakers, hip-hop references, pop-culture references, retro movie designs and whatever else takes my fancy. Also, I very often like to incorporate some kind of street art into the work I do - I really appreciate that form of art and think it fits in with a lot of the projects I do. I started making sneakers around four years ago, it just started as a hobby, I wasn’t really doing anything serious… then during my a-levels, we hit covid, I was off school for around a year and a half and I had a lot of time on my hands. I began started posting some of my work online and began to build up my own clientele over the last year or so at sixth form. I managed to go full time pretty much as soon as I finished my exams, I’d decided that I didn’t want to go to university and I’m still full time now, it’s been a great journey - a lot of self motivation at times but it’s definitely all been worth it. There are so many creatives out there doing crazily impressive things that inspire me - Nikita Trik, Fabian Oefner, Danny Cortes, Freehand Profit and Helen Kirkum to name just a few. Also, I definitely really rely on my family a lot, they’ve been really supportive in motivating me and keeping me going; they’re definitely a big inspiration for me - very hardworking so I guess I get that from them.”

What do you do and what made you get into this specific type of creative?

“Well, it wasn’t really anything is thought I was going to be able to do as a career until about a year ago. A lot of the first works I did were very basic print logo commissions and I got bored pretty quickly. It slowly developed itself and I started only trying to do projects that I really enjoyed - I tried to get clients who were interested in similar sorts of things to me. I made my first diorama sneaker about a year ago, it was for a gallery in Paris and I had a very open brief - I really liked the idea of being able to do what I wanted. I’d never really seen anyone else do it before and with the brief being so open, I wanted to try it out. A few months later a client reached out to me saying that they loved my work and would like me to do something similar for them - this client was really supportive and has gone on to order six or so more pairs since. It then catapulted from there, after I shared those projects online. It picked up traction pretty quickly on social media and I’ve just been developing my style as much as I can since then. With a lot of the stuff that I’m doing now, I like to try and keep as much of it community based as possible - I did a project recently where people on Instagram could reply to my story with something that I’d then turn into mini graffiti on a sneaker. It’s really nice to have my own little community involved on projects, a lot of the graffiti on any of the projects I’ve done are usually follower suggestions - I’ve found that it’s a great way of keeping it all community based.”

Where do you make your art and where do you want your work to take you in the future?

“So, I am currently still living at home but I have my own little garden studio that I’m in right now. I’m in here pretty much24/7, it’s where I make all of my work; it’s lovely to have my own little space. Then, in terms of the future, I’ve really been enjoying a lot of the branded collaborations i’ve been doing recently, so I definitely want to continue to build on them, especially the ones with Foot Locker. It’s a little bit stressful at times balancing client expectations with tight turnaround times but it’s definitely motivated me to be more efficient.”

When did you realise that this was something you wanted to do as a career and when did it first begin to feel real?

“Well, the first ever pair I made was an old beaten up pair of Adidas Superstars. I didn’t do any prior research and once I’d finished, I walked outside in them and all of the paint cracked/peeled off. That was what motivated me to learn it properly I think. I never really thought about pursuing it as a career until I didn’t give myself the choice - I’d decided pretty early on that I didn’t want to go to university. I didn’t really like the whole school setting, so as soon as I finished college, I knew I had to focus and pursue something properly - this came at the same time as I’d just started getting regular clients. I think the two things came together at the right time and I then knew exactly what it was that I wanted to do. All of my effort went into it, any part time jobs I’ve had along the way have always been to fund this career. I perhaps made the decision a little bit too early but looking at it now, I can say that it’s definitely paid off. It great being able to self motive (although hard at times) and have such a supportive client base and community around me.”

Why do you do what you do and why do you think your work has connected with an audience the way it has?

“I just absolutely love doing it, even if it’s just for my mental health. I can quite happily sit out here all day, working on making fun stuff with no issues. It’s a great escape at times, it keeps me happy and I love the whole community aspect of it - being able to get people involved in the creation is so rewarding. Even just seeing people like my work is really validating (once you’ve filtered through the hate comments haha) and I think that there’s already such a big community of sneaker heads in general. It’s quite funny sometimes seeing peoples reactions - they either love it or they hate it, there’s no in-between. I think it plays on that love for sneakers that so many people have and then contrasts with the shock that others have when they see someone chopping up sneakers to make art.”