Today we’d like to introduce you to Shoe.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Shoe. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
My creative journey came to fruition when I moved back to Los Angeles from Arizona in October 2016. I reconnected with a lot of my old friends from college that moved to LA to pursue similar dreams. At the time, I came off of reading Tony Robbins’s book “Awaken the Giant Within”. I would say this booked changed my life because it helped give me the confidence and belief that I have the power to bring my dreams to life.
I started off working with one of my best friends Eyes. He brought me into work on a music video for T-Cole “Lit Right Now”. My role was producer and PA. I instantly fell in love with the creative, logistics, and all the facets of creativity with bringing a vision to life on film. On that set, I met Jhene Aiko’s UK manager Damian Hodge, we developed a solid relationship over the next year or so. At the top of 2018, I got my first opportunity to help produce and write for the biggest music video I have been a part of at the time, which was for Jhene Aiko featuring Rae Sremmurd “Sativa”.
Later on that year, I began working with one of my mentors Daps. I was introduced to him by Eyes, who worked with him on Rich the Kid “Plug Walk” and Migos ft. Drake “Walk It Talk It”. I ended up creatively working with Daps on a number of visuals for artists such as Migos, Rich the Kid, DJ Snake, Sheck Wes, 21 Savage, and Gucci Mane. This gave a lot of much needed experience with working on big sets.
As I began getting more comfortable in the industry, I had an urge to pick up a camera and learn the functionalities to shoot inspiring things that interest me, which is mainly in the music and fashion space. Having the ability to create imagery that comes to your mind is an important ability to have as a creative. Not having the skills to bring visions to your mind to reality can be daunting.
One of my passions is I have always been into fashion. I have been on eBay and Grailed buying second hand vintage designer items and selling them for over a decade. My love for sneakers and clothes inspired me to dive more into fashion as apart of my artistic endeavor.
This lead to going to Paris Fashion week January 2019 and being an attendee of Virgil Abloh’s Louis Vuitton fashion show and Kim Jones’s Dior fashion show.
Later that year, I went to New York Fashion week and was an attendee of the John Elliott and Helmut Lang shows. I also shot street fashion photography with my friends in which my work was later posted on blogs, such as Hypebeast and Highsnobiety.
From connecting and meeting a variety of people from attending these events it led to designing and working with more people in the fashion industry. One of the campaign’s we worked on was with Kanye West and Virigil Abloh’s close collaborator Ibn Jasper. We got asked to creative direct and shoot multiple visual campaigns for his newly developed shoe line Stratica International.
This year I am excited to create as much as possible. I have been given opportunities in industries that if you would of asked me years ago, I would never be doing any of these things. I’m currently working closely with Inglewood rapper and one of my best friends, Domo Genesis, for his upcoming project and shows too. With everything being said, I am blessed every day to have the ability to constantly work on what matters to me. I want to tap deeper into the worlds of film, fashion, and art this year. I have a bag collab coming very soon with designer Sheron Barber and his brand DR-14. I also have an idea for art installations that I really like and want to her done this year. Lastly, I have to produce an original short film this year. Stay tuned.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Being in a creative field always comes with struggles particularly financially. At the beginning balancing creating art and making money is the hardest part. The main thing is you don’t want a job that takes up all your time and mental capacity to the point it is more difficult to create.
I had my fair share of struggle balancing a full-time job and building a company at the same time. It takes dedicated focus every single day to prosper.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I work mainly in film, fashion, art, and creative direction. I am a co-founder of a creative house that I started with my friends called “hue.” We specialize in film, photography, creative design, and artist development. We have been known in the past mainly for music videos but our vision and creativity goes far beyond that. Most of our company is made up of friends that I have known for 10+ years. I’m most proud that we have been able to create and still have an active company despite all the other business opportunities everyone has in addition to our company.
Contact Info:
- Address: 333 City Blvd West
#1700
Orange, CA 92868 - Website: www.hueperiod.com
- Phone: 323-829-0096
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @mikeshoe__
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/hueperiod/
Image Credit:
Eyes, Nina Zadeh, Xavier Stiles, Jeremiah Lazo, and Dalia Dias
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