At CNKDaily, we not only uphold our mission of serving women within sneaker culture, but we also find it just as important to share stories and messages of inspiration. We love to connect with women in and out of the sneaker community to connect the dots highlighting many different avenues that lead to female empowerment. In finding dope females for our audience to vibe with, we come across women that aren’t placed in a specific box because they flourish in multiple spaces. These women make our Chick Chat Series that much more special.

You may recognize Adrianne Ho on your daily scroll through Instagram or have her on the ‘Turn On Post Notifications’ list. Adrianne is more than a gorgeous face with a sense of style. She’s ambitious, down to earth, and pushes a message of positivity. In speaking to her, we learned that she’s not new to this because she’s been building a social media presence since before it was the cool thing.

Through style, wellness, and her ability to create girl power with everything she touches – we get to know more about Adrianne and her story. Check out our exclusive interview below as she breaks down her brand, being a consumer in the sneaker/streetwear scene, and working with Champs Sports on an ode to a classic silhouette.

I am originally from Toronto, and I started modeling when I was still in school. I also grew up loving food (I’m half French and half Chinese). Once I started modeling, there were very strict measurement requirements. Once I decided I wanted to get into modeling seriously, I began working out and working with a trainer. One of the first things he did was make me write down everything I was eating, and he was like ‘Nope, you can’t eat that’ (LOL). He put me on a diet. The first two weeks weren’t super sustainable, but it did help me reset my body in a way that I wasn’t eating processed foods anymore. A lot of whole foods and with working out all the time, I never really had to train like that before. I knew if I wanted to model, it was something I had to do and I had to get into this health and fitness lifestyle. Instead of being upset about it, I had to accept it and learn as much as I could about what I was doing. I started to really enjoy it and love it and became really interested in it.

I eventually moved to New York and began modeling over there. This was around the time that Instagram was becoming a thing. Living in NY, my style choices shifted a lot. I started incorporating more streetwear and athletic wear into my wardrobe because I was so busy going to castings, photoshoots, and meetings. I had no time to wear one thing and go home and change to go to the gym. I couldn’t carry my clothes everywhere either, because it was becoming too cumbersome. Instagram was so new, and I started shooting what I was wearing. I developed a pretty strong following on Instagram, and I wanted to elaborate on what I was into, you know, kind of create an online resource of what I’ve learned and show what people I knew in the industry were into. I was creating a community online, and at the time there was nothing else out there that brought in the health/wellness, fashion, active wear.

I created my site Sweat the Style, alongside I had a merch program where you could buy shirts, leggings, beanies, and stuff like that. Over the years, I started incorporating vintage sportswear which evolved into having my own clothing line. The work I started getting was not just modeling, brands were interested in what I was doing and my perspective. When I started my site in 2013, it was very new and it was not on trend at the time. That helped me be part of creating that fashion trend. It was great for me because I was able to work with great brands like adidas and their campaigns (like the Stan Smith).

The Stan Smith – because it’s so versatile and simple, it’s more than a trend. It’s something that your grandmother could wear, your nephew could wear, or you could wear. It doesn’t matter what your personal style is, if you’re trying to stand out or not, it’s a sneaker that truly fits within everyone’s lifestyle. I’m pretty sure everyone has a pair of Stan Smiths. It allows you to be part of sneaker culture without even trying. It’s such a classic, timeless sneaker that can be worn no matter what. It evolved from tennis, and that’s such a high-class sport. Tennis has such class, and you can be apart of that lifestyle without having to actually be at Wimbledon. You can go to your local Champs at the mall and have a piece of that with you.

Originality is such an important thing for anyone within any industry. If you want to be a leader, you have to be original. In the world of everyone being online and copying, it doesn’t matter because you’re always moving forward and pushing the envelope. You’re always evolving. When you’re original, you’re never done and never stagnant. If you want to be successful, you can’t try to be a carbon copy of anyone else.

I would love to see more accessibility to everybody. What I loved about streetwear back in 2013, it wasn’t a high price ticket item. I could go work out in streetwear, and throw it in the wash and not stress out because it wasn’t hundreds of dollars. Sometimes with luxury brands, you get scared to wear it. I love seeing more female designers getting more involved and taking part in it all.

As time goes on, and more women are being part of corporations and in the board rooms and designers, we will have more of a perspective on product along with more innovation. Things that we can create that women will say “OMG I’ve been needing that all long”. I believe there will be more innovation in products in the future.

I would like to make a positive impact on people’s lives. Whether that be how they are eating, working out, or even being able to be resourceful by using the tools around you to make your dreams come true. It’s important to lead by example. Anyone can make it, it’s about finding your way to do it. I was able to create a niche for myself, and I want to show people through my trajectory regardless of industry, they can do the same. Just because you weren’t born with certain attributes, doesn’t mean you can’t make it. You just have to be a little more creative – and original.

It’s about being yourself and being comfortable with who you are. It’s about being original.