Name: SSgt Ken P. Pierre II
Branch: United States Air Force
Years in the Service: 8 Year Veteran (2005-2013)
Originally From: Brooklyn, NY
Nice Kicks: How many shoes do you currently own?
SSgt Pierre: 107
Nice Kicks: What shoe would you consider your grail or a shoe you regret missing out on?
SSgt Pierre: The one shoe that I regret not getting the most was the KD 4 “Galaxy”. I passed on the for the Nike Flight One “Galaxy”.
Nice Kicks: What do you attribute your love of sneakers to?
SSgt Pierre: From as far back as I can remember, my father always had me laced with fresh kicks. Every week my dad used to come home with a new pair! He passed away when I was 11, and times got hard for my family to meet ends. I missed the feeling of having new kicks, so I acquired a job at Dairy Queen at 14 to keep my addiction going. Over time, I developed a love for the history behind a sneaker, and the artistry put into a silhouette. Loud colors represent my personality the best. In my opinion, I think shoes represent who you are more than any other material possession out there, and I strive to be the flyest!
Nice Kicks: Has being in the military helped or hurt your ability to cop the shoes you want?
SSgt Pierre: While I’ve been stateside, the military has helped me cop certain kicks that I wanted because I would’ve have been fired If I had a normal job. If I wanted to camp out for a pair of kicks back in the day, I would just take leave for a day and wait for the midnight release. Being overseas was the worst! Especially at a base with a lot of sneakerheads that’s on an island because the BX only gets one or two full size runs, and there are hundreds of people on the same base with nothing else to do but camp.
Nice Kicks: What is the craziest thing you have done for a pair of kicks?
SSgt Pierre: Craziest thing I’ve ever done was campout at Nice Kicks for three days for the “Galaxy” Foams! I remember viewing the shoe before the wristbands were to be given out, and my first thought upon seeing them was that it was the ugliest shoe I ever saw in my life! I was disgusted at myself for even camping all those days for them. The pictures made them look so much better to me!
