PENSOLE was founded in 2010 by D’Wayne Edwards, an industry veteran with nearly three decades of experience at Jordan Brand, Nike, Skechers and LA Gear. With a world-class faculty and deep community of partners, PENSOLE’s mission is to equip the footwear industry with the next generation of designers through a hands-on, “learn by doing” curriculum. Since its inception, more than 400 graduates have been placed with footwear companies worldwide.

Foot Locker and PENSOLE have shared a longstanding partnership since 2014, collaborating on the annual “World Sneaker Championship” and partnering on PENSOLE’s “Fueling the Future of Footwear” annual master class design competition. Most recently, the competition resulted in the ASICS Gel-Diablo “Once Upon a Time in Kobe,” a PENSOLE x ASICS collaboration that launched exclusively in Foot Locker September 2018.

"The future of the footwear industry is reliant upon hands-on learning, and the training of tomorrow's design and business leaders," said PENSOLE founder D'Wayne 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."    

With this strategic investment, Foot Locker is strengthening the relationship with PENSOLE. Together, we will collaborate on design and manufacturing of exclusive products for our banners. The partnership will also create marketing programs to better engage consumers, including digital media services.