Foot Locker and Pensole Partner on a Student Shoe Design Program

Foot Locker and Pensole collaborate on a campaign inviting students to design new footwear for ASICS Tiger.

A team of bright, young minds will soon create a footwear silhouette to join the ranks of ASICS Tiger lifestyle sneakers (Image via Pensole)

New York-based athletic goods retailer Foot Locker is partnering Pensole Footwear Design Academy to create the next generation of footwear and foster innovation and creativity in the classroom. Students will be the driving force for this collaboration as they seek the opportunity to set new trends and gain exposure in the industry.

Kicking off this initiative is the “Fueling the Future of Footwear” course that takes place from July 13^th to 31^st.

The class-based competition will be based on Pensole’s “learn by doing” footwear design process. 18 students will form six teams with diverse skill sets across design, engineering/materials and business. The aim? To create a new collection for ASICS Tiger.

The daunting task has its fair share of rewards; the final chosen design will be sold at select Foot Locker locations and the winning team will receive a US$12,000 scholarship.

Pensole founder D’Wayne Edwards, along with Footlocker, ASICS and industry executives, will pick out the competition winners and give the emblematic Foot Locker “Approved” seal to the winning design.

“The future of the footwear industry is reliant upon hands-on learning, and the training of tomorrow’s design and business leaders,” said Edwards. “With the partnership of Foot Locker, Pensole makes it possible for those students to hone their craft and prepare themselves for their professional careers.”

Application for the competition closes on May 24^th.