OEN Member NewsNew Balance Partners With Pensole Footwear Design Academy (SGB Media)

New Balance partnered with Pensole Footwear Design Academy to launch The Pensole Master Class in Footwear Design, a hands-on, three-week intensive footwear, color and materials design immersion program to introduce aspiring designers to the art of footwear design, according to Pensole founder D’Wayne Edwards.

The Pensole Master Class will take place from January 4-25, 2017, at New Balance’s Research and Design Center in Lawrence, MA, after a global search for the best 20 aspiring designers, comprising 15 in footwear and five in color and materials, is completed.

The final selection of 20 students will be announced on December 9. New Balance will provide scholarships (tuition and housing) for the hand-selected aspiring designers to experience Pensole’s rigorous “learn by doing” curriculum, wherein students are assigned New Balance projects to develop.

Top students will have the opportunity to be considered for a one-year apprenticeship at the New Balance Design Foundry.

“This is our inaugural engagement with New Balance and we’re very excited to partner with the company’s design team,” Edwards said. “As with all Pensole programs, this is not a typical academic setting. At the end of the three weeks these students will have a different outlook on design, themselves and New Balance.”

The Pensole Master Class will feature industry professionals ranging from design managers, design directors, designers, pattern engineers, and recruiters, all there to share knowledge to inspire, guide and challenge young designers to reach their creative potential.

Source: sgbonline.com