Fourteen-year-old Amira-Dior Traynham-Artis is stepping up her game big time.
About a year after launching her own sneaker company, one of her creations will be gifted at an Oscars pre-ceremony event.
“It’s unexpected but I know I have the tools to be ready for it,” said Traynham-Artis, who is a is native of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.
The teenager said once her sneaker company, Lane One, gained popularity, her mother was contacted by a representative to provide 75 pairs for the DPA pre-awards gift suite in Los Angeles.
“This is a great opportunity. I’m super proud of my daughter,” said Kenesha Traynham-Cooper, Traynham-Artis’ mother.
Traynham-Cooper said she noticed her daughter’s love for creating and her fashion sense at an early age.
“About six years old, I realized that she was cutting up lil pieces of fabric and making lil outfits for her dolls,” she said.
She encouraged her daughter to lean into that creativity and eventually challenged her to make her own sneakers.
“Because I love fashion, I was like, ‘Okay, let’s do it,’” said Trayham-Artis. “One of my favorite kinds of pairs of sneakers is mid-tops and low tops so I was just like maybe I can do something like this and when it comes to the color. I love nude colors and earth tones, so I just went along with that.”
Her brand is expanding with a line of shoes she created for younger children.
Traynham-Artis said these creative projects have always been an escape for her.
“I found it to be an outlet for me,
