Nearly everyone wants to be unique. What initially drew me to Melissa’s site - or as she fittingly also calls herself: uniQue - was her creativity and originality. In her profile she mentions: “graffiti, the art of hip-hop, the creativity of drawing pictures and words to express your feelings” among her favorite things. And you can see these preferences reflected in her work. Ok, so what is it that she does - besides, of course, drawing and expressing her feelings? She makes individually hand-painted sneakers. That’s right - each one is custom designed and painted.
At first, my 21st century, efficiency controlled brain was thinking, “what an awful lot of work. Couldn’t the process be streamlined and more readily produced?” But then I realized - that would ruin the *whole* point! You’d end up with shoes that look like screen printed tees, designed to look authentic (you know the type - “dripping” paint, imperfections). In reality, these “unique” pieces sit on a rack with 50 others just like them.
At 17 years old, Melissa draws on her love of graffiti, drawing, and hip-hop to create her individualistic footwear. She’s got several pictures up on her Ekaweeka site, and is always creating. Her first couple sales came off of ebay, and went to a guy in Japan and his girlfriend. She says he’s since ordered six more pair - and that’s enough to keep her busy for a while. But, Melissa says, she always has people asking her to design special shoes for them - business is booming already for this teen!