D’WAYNE EDWARDS, former footwear design director for Nike’s Jordan division, recently led 23 students from six countries through his innovative athletic footwear class at PARSONS SUMMER INTENSIVE STUDIES NEW YORK. The course title, PENSOLE, alludes to Edwards’ requirement that students hand-draw their shoe designs, which they refined over four weeks. The curriculum includes exercises to develop workplace skills like time management and collaboration. Industry experts critiqued student work, and designer Matt Rhoades and materials specialist Suzette Henri, Edwards’ former colleagues at Nike, guided participants through the intensive design process. In their final presentations, students showed renderings, packaging concepts, and models of their designs. Anna Smith, an industrial design master’s student from NC State University, said the course “offered practical information on a growing industry that’s not taught about a lot.”

www.newschool.edu/pensole