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The Aylesbury teenager turning old trainers into works of art

Stella Stockbridge Stella Stockbridge with her trainerStella Stockbridge
Ms Stockbridge says she was overwhelmed at the response to the shoe she refurbished

A teenager has won praise for transforming old footwear into street art pieces - complete with lamp posts.

Stella Stockbridge, from Aylesbury, began by redesigning an old Jordan trainer before her art went viral on social media.

The 19-year-old was already using social media for her business until her experiment "blew up" online.

"I expected them to get a lot of hate comments... but overwhelmingly people were so supportive," she said.

She has produced a seven-part video series showing how she went from cutting out parts of the shoe, to painting it and even adding a light up miniature lamp post.

Stella Stockbridge The shoe design created by Stella Stockbridge which shows graffiti painted onto a trainerStella Stockbridge
Stella Stockbridge first painted on a shoe three or four years ago and her designs have come a long way since then

The shoe itself was already ruined, she said, and instead of it going to waste, she was inspired to create something out of it.

She said it took a week to redesign the shoe, using unconventional materials like clay, foam board and plaster, to transform it into a piece of art.

Stella Stockbridge A close up of the trainer including a working lamp post and bottle of spray paintStella Stockbridge
From posters to graffiti and miniature spray paints, Ms Stockbridge asked her followers on Instagram to suggest what she should put on the shoe

Miss Stockbridge said she also gets ideas of what to add and graffiti on the trainers from her social media followers, and dubbed the style "sneaker sculpture".

"The final sneaker has a little part of everyone who supported me on it and it makes it all the more special to me," she said.

Stella Stockbridge The trainer created by Stella Stockbridge halfway during the design process before it was painted onStella Stockbridge
The teenager who has always been interested in art, swapped canvases for a different medium through her love of shoes
Stella Stockbridge The finished shoe from halfway during the design process to the final productStella Stockbridge
Usually she creates a pair of trainers that go together, however she said "with this project I had no limits whatsoever because I know it's just for display"

Her videos attract thousands of views, however one garnered more than a million, with commenters debating whether her work should be classed as graffiti or vandalism.

She said: "I expected them to get loads of hate comments because people get quite territorial over shoes... but overwhelmingly people were so supportive."

Stella Stockbridge The trainer created by Stella Stockbridge halfway during the design process before it was painted onStella Stockbridge
The teenager who has always been interested in art, swapped canvases for a different medium through her love of shoes

She said negative comments created a conversation over what qualifies as art.

Miss Stockbridge also discovered a whole new community of supporters on TikTok, and said it felt like people "have her back".

Stella Stockbridge Stella Stockbridge painting on a pair of white trainersStella Stockbridge
The 19-year-old says that she wants to be known and thought of as an artist rather than someone who customises shoes

Ms Stockbridge has been heavily influenced by graffiti and street art and has found that art has helped her with her own identity.

She said: "Graffiti as an art form is so self-expressive and you can turn the most blank wall into something so beautiful.

"When I was younger I was quite nervous and I didn't have the best sense of identity so I feel like art has really helped me with that," she said.

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