For the latest instalment in our size?collections series, we packed our bags and headed to Berlin to catch up with freelance photographer Julia – also known as Sneakerqueen. She talked us through her decades-spanning collection, which includes plenty of gems from countless brands, and even some silhouettes she’s personally collaborated on.

Julia’s love for collecting really took flight in ’99, when the Air Jordan 4 ‘Cement’ was released. She recalls repeatedly asking for the shoe to be put on hold in-store whilst she saved to purchase it, and her collection started from there. Today, it’s so big she has to keep part of it in storage, so it’s little surprise that Julia isn’t exactly sure just how big the collection is – although she estimates it to be around a thousand pairs.

With a real penchant for vintage shoes, Julia values the stories and cultural moments which are behind each silhouette. “I love collecting vintage because it has a total different aura to a retro shoe or a new shoe because you can really see the history through the patina.” One particular pair is a Japanese adidas shoe, which is marked on the heel with the Japanese for ‘Red’, suggesting it was worn to play sports in a Japanese school. We also saw plenty of throwback gems like the Nike Air Structure and Air Support, as well as a Run-DMC-signed adidas El Dorado – a pretty special silhouette, since it was one of the first that a sneaker brand ever did with a hip-hop group.

Julia’s passion for collecting has translated into plenty of sneaker related projects, whether that’s curating and organising sneaker exhibitions in different locations around the globe, lending shoes to the adidas Archive or collaborating with the likes of adidas for her take on one of her favourite silhouettes – the Rivalry High. She has also teamed with Ellesse on an Ellesse Tanker, and more recently gave her take on the KangaROOS Ultimate last year.

As for the future, Julia said that “having the chance to collaborate for example on a Nike shoe would definitely be really nice”, and her love of collecting doesn’t show any sign of waning any time soon. Whether it’s noticing someone on the street sporting a pair of old shoes or finding different models online, Julia is constantly having her love of trainers renewed, reflecting that “collecting fever is not gonna go away for quite some time.”

Discover more ?collections on our blog here.