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Where to Buy Phillip Santosuosso's Personal Collection of Skated Heat
Hurricane Ida poured down on the city of New Orleans this past Sunday, August 29, 2021. It was the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, one of the most infamous storms in recent history. Hurricane Ida made a name for itself as the fifth-strongest hurricane to ever hit the mainland, with winds ascending to 150 mph. By Monday morning the streets were flooded, homes were destroyed, and the power grid was completely wiped out. With a global pandemic still actively debilitating the wellbeing of the world, Hurricane Ida has completely exhausted the city of New Orleans.
It’s no secret that southern hospitality is the standard in NOLA and during times like this, the community comes together to rebuild. Phillip Santosuosso is the owner of a local New Orleans skate shop called Humidity, which has been a staple in the skate scene since 1996. Santosuosso joined the team during their 10-year anniversary and was eventually able to purchase the store with his mother — just a year after Hurricane Katrina hit.
Born and raised in New Orleans, Phillip Santosuosso is all about his community. Humidity has a long history of giving back with initiatives like giving kids skateboards for good grades and even collaborating with Real Skateboards to create a deck that raised funds for the ACLU. This time around, Santosuosso has created the ultimate fundraiser by listing a mega collectors’ pack of sneakers on eBay to contribute to the Hurricane Ida relief.
Santosuosso explains the purpose behind his mission saying, “These are all the shoes that I’ve skated over time and I had them in the shop as a display as skated heat. Over time people would come into the store and be like, ‘Hey can I buy these?’ So rather than just using them as a display, I could use them for a good purpose. I’m just trying to donate back to our city. We all got f*cked up.”
Starting the bid at $100, Santosuosso listed his personal collection of skated sneakers on eBay. The entire set totals to 23 pairs of shoes and features some of the most coveted sneaker releases, including the UNC 1 Lows, Travis Scott 1s, Chicago to LA Jordan 1s, the Chunky Dunks, and more.
“The reason I started keeping them all is because I wanted to do an art show called Skated Heat,” said Santosuosso. “I was going to display shoes like they were brand new, I think a skated shoe sometimes look better than when it’s brand new. It adds character to it and the way it breaks-in looks cool. It looks 10x better than when it’s brand new. The silhouette changes and I was always into that. The Travis Scott 1s, I wasn’t too into them until I started skating in them. Once they started getting beat up I was like, ‘This shoe is sick.’”
Santosuosso will use the money raised from the eBay listing to donate to Southern Solidarity. Run by a local black queer woman, Southern Solidarity prides itself as an anti-imperalist organization saying, “[We are] a grassroots, community-based group of volunteers in solidarity with the unhoused in their quest toward liberation. We organize the delivery of food, medical resources and basic needs directly to the unhoused in the downtown area of New Orleans because the government has not filled this need.” It seems that both Southern Solidarity and Santosuosso agree that the government fails to step in, forcing the community to recover on their own.
“The feeling of frustration and hopelessness from your own government is definitely there,” says Santosuosso. “There’s a lot of frustration that the news doesn’t show. People are tired, but these struggles bring communities together. I have homies that have small restaurants and instead of throwing away their food, they just started cooking it for everyone so it didn’t go to waste and they could give back straight to the community. Stuff like that is what’s really going on and what we see happening in New Orleans — that’s what makes me love being here.”
It was important to Santosuosso that he work with a local organization like Southern Solidarity. He trusts that they’ll be able to get the job done saying, “They’re on the ground and in the community within our own city. When you get to a lot of these bigger organizations, they have to use that money across the board and sometimes you don’t know if that money goes directly to your community. I wanted to give back to someone that is actually on the ground doing stuff actively in our own backyard.”
After taking a fall during a skate trip in Oakland this past week, Santosuosso had to go into emergency surgery to repair his arm. His injury has gotten in the way of his return to New Orleans, but he has big plans for more hurricane relief initiatives when he gets back.
“My goal is that once the lights are up, probably in about a week or two, I’m going to get as many new clothes as possible and set up a day for families to come through and get some free stuff and personally be in the community, handing out product to anybody that possibly needs it.”
Santosuosso is also working with local New Orleans photographer, Akasha Rabut, to put together a treasure chest of items including exclusive prints and sneakers to raffle off. Once the city is more stable and the electricity is back up, you’ll be able to go to Humidity’s website and purchase a raffle ticket, which will continue to raise funds for Hurricane Ida relief.
In the meantime, place your bid on Phillip Santosuosso’s eBay listing or visit southernsolidarity.org to donate directly.
