EXCLUSIVE: ‘She Kicks’ is the First-Ever Women's Sneaker Encyclopedia

After years in the making, New York-based publisher Studio 96 announced it will launch “She Kicks” this weekend, a new coffee-table book that celebrates changemakers, leaders and creatives within women’s sneaker culture.

Compiled by Girl on Kicks founder Sanne Poeze as well as writer, consultant and former Hypebae editor Nav Gill, “She Kicks” chronicles the powerful stories and ideas that both authors have encountered throughout their time working in the industry. With the book, they hope more attention will be drawn to the trailblazing moves that often fail to be noticed by male counterparts – in an expression used by female sneakerheads, it aims to “give women their flowers”.

“At its core, this is a sneaker book, so it’s really for anyone who’s interested in sneaker culture and the industry. The stories and insight throughout this book are relevant regardless of gender but what really makes it really interesting is the fact it offers a perspective on the sneaker world that has often been overlooked.” Gill explains.

She adds, “We’ve both worked in different areas of the industry for years, and in that time have gotten to meet amazing women who have worked on pioneering products, secured incredible partnerships and created real change in the industry. Our combined experience gave us a great starting point for knowing what people and products we personally felt had propelled sneaker culture forward. Of course, many more interesting stories came to light through our research and interviews whilst developing She Kicks.”

Readers will be able to flick through pages exploring well-known collaborations such as Melody Ehsani’s exclusive Air Jordan 1, or go behind the making of Tiffany Beer’s historic Nike Air Mag innovation for the Back To The Future film. Adding to its diverse content, there are also features on retail destinations and new tech being developed specifically for female sneakerheads.

With the publisher’s S96 app, the extensive book goes beyond the hundreds of bound pages with a range of interactive features. From shopping hotspots, to hosted giveaways and even sharing a chance to snap up NFTs, “She Kicks” comes together as a complete experience that readers can be a part of.

“The technology that S96 has developed allows She Kicks to live on beyond the usual lifespan of printed material. The sneaker industry is constantly evolving, and at a really rapid pace, and we wanted the book to be able to keep up to speed with it. It means that if you pick it up off your shelf in a couple months time, you’ll find something different to what you were able to interact with last time around.”