OEN Member NewsFootwear school Pensole adds apparel design classes (Portland Business Journal)

Pensole Footwear Design Academy, which in short time has become a signifiant part of the sportswear industry’s talent pipeline, will now offer apparel classes.

The school this week said Angela Medlin will teach Functional Apparel and Accessories. Medlin’s 25-year career includes stops at Nike, Adidas, North Face, Eddie Bauer, and Levi Strauss & Co. At Nike she worked as an apparel design director for the Jordan Brand.

“The establishment of the Functional Apparel and Accessories Studio gets us closer to closing the loop of offering key careers that replicate the product creation team in a company, but in a learning environment,” said Pensole founder D’Wayne Edwards, in a news release.

“We currently offer footwear design, color design, material design and brand design. Adding functional apparel and accessories in partnership with Angela Medlin, with her background and experience, are a natural fit for Pensole’s continued development and expansion.”

Medlin will teach her first workshop this fall.

“The first principle I learned in design school was ‘nothing in design is arbitrary,'” Medlin said, in a news release. “(The Functional Apparel and Accessories Studio) is built on this simple premise. It’s a holistic approach to creating beautiful product that performs with and for the consumer.”

It continues to be a busy year for Pensole, which in June announced a partnership with the Pacific Northwest College of Art that could lead to the country’s first degree in sneaker design. It’s also working on a reality TV show.

Edwards founded Pensole in 2010 after a career at Nike and its Jordan brand that included designing signature sneakers for Michael Jordan, one of the pinnacles of the profession.

Pensole has placed more than 200 students in the industry with employees including giants such as Nike, Adidas and Under Armour.

Source: www.bizjournals.com