Pensole Footwear Design Academy is a footwear

design school An art school is an educational institution with a primary focus on the visual arts, including fine art – especially illustration, painting, photography, sculpture, and graphic design. Art schools can offer elementary, secondary, post-seco ...

based in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

. Founded in 2010 by D’Wayne Edwards, the school has partnerships with institutions such as

Parsons The New School for Design Parsons School of Design, known colloquially as Parsons, is a private art and design college located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. Founded in 1896 after a group of progressive artists broke away from established Manhat ...

Art Center College of Design Art Center College of Design (stylized as ArtCenter College of Design) is a private art college in Pasadena, California. History ArtCenter College of Design was founded in 1930 in downtown Los Angeles as the Art Center School. In 1935, Fred ...

, and

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

, as well as brands such as

Foot Locker Foot Locker Retail, Inc. is an American sportswear and footwear retailer, with its headquarters in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, and operating in 28 countries. Although established in 1974, and founded as a separate company in 1988, Foo ...

, Asics, and Adidas.Davis, Noah.
D’Wayne Edwards Is Teaching the Next Generation of Sneaker Designers
" Racked. 06 February 2017. Founder Edwards is a former design director of Brand Jordan, a subsidiary of

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

based

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine give ...

. The school has also worked with Adidas, whose North American headquarters are in Portland, and also hold a design competition called the Future of Footwear.

History

Pensole was founded in 2010 and started by holding classes at a variety of venues, including the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

's Portland Center. The founder of the academy, D’Wayne Edwards, started in the industry without any formal training and worked for

LA Gear LA Gear (or L.A. Gear) is an American shoe company based in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1983, the brand is currently owned by ACI International. History LA Gear was started by Robert Greenberg, Ernest Williams, and Stephen Williams. Gr ...

Skechers Skechers USA, Inc. is an American multinational footwear company. Headquartered in Manhattan Beach, California, it was founded in 1992 and is now the third largest footwear brand in the United States. History Skechers was founded in 1992 by Rob ...

, and Sity before spending ten years at Nike with the Jordan Brand. Pensole began as a program partnered with the

. The school moved to Portland's Old Town neighborhood in the Northwest area in January 2012. In 2013, Pensole started classes for professionals in the shoe industry. Pensole held a World Sneaker Championship in 2014. The associated foundation began selling shares in the school in 2014 in an effort to raise up to $7.5 million for the school. Pensole raised $4 million through a partnership with Rooy Inc. in 2015.

Academics

The school offers introductory classes to college and high school students held on Saturdays. Pensole also has classes for those in the design profession and middle school students. Students come from throughout the country, and also include some students from other countries such as Denmark and Israel. Pensole also has a materials library (MLab) and has a class specifically for materials, colors, and finishing. In addition to the usual 11-week courses, there are also week-long courses held during spring break, and other short-term courses. The 11-week courses are equivalent to a full college semester. Some programs also allow students to earn credit toward degrees in other colleges.Keyser, Amber. Sneaker Century: A History of Athletic Shoes. Minneapolis: Twenty-First Century Books, 2015. Print. p.56 Instructors include people from Nike and other Oregon-based footwear companies. Pensole is located at 10 Northwest Fifth Avenue along Burnside in the Old Town neighborhood. Classes are also held in other cities, such as

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

. The school has partnered with

to hold classes in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, with the

in Pasadena, California, and with

for classes in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

References

External links

* {{authority control 2010 establishments in Oregon Education in Portland, Oregon Schools in Oregon Fashion schools in the United States Educational institutions established in 2010