Pensole Footwear Design Academy, known for discovering the next generation of footwear design talent, has announced a partnership with Autodesk and Wacom for the Fusion of Footwear Design Competition Powered by Autodesk, an online competition to find the shoe industry’s best emerging 3-D designers.
Autodesk produces software for the architecture, engineering, construction, manufacturing, media and entertainment industries, while Wacom provides innovative digital technologies such as interactive pen displays, pen tablets and styluses.
Aspiring designers will compete for prizes such as a Wacom Cintiq 27QHD Creative Pen Display Tablet and Wacom Creative Kits (Bamboo Folio Smartpad with smart pen and casing). The top 20 designs will be featured in Footwear News and at FN Platform in February.
Watch on FN
“Partnering with Autodesk and Wacom enables us to create a completely new type of competition for our longstanding partnership with FN Platform, North America’s largest footwear trade show,” said Pensole founder D’Wayne Edwards. “3-D design is the future of our industry and with Autodesk’s Fusion 360 software and Wacom’s world class digital design equipment, we can provide aspiring footwear designers globally a platform to showcase their ability.”
Pensole teaches students the footwear design process (inspiration, concept-development, branding) without financial barriers. Since Pensole’s launch in 2010, more than 185 graduates have been placed professionally.
Applicants can enter design in the following categories:
Play: Juniors’ and women’s footwear
Zen: The crossroads of footwear comfort and style
Camp: Women’s and men’s casual lifestyle and advanced contemporary footwear
Bond: Bespoke footwear for the modern man
Cosmo: Women’s fashion footwear
Black Diamond: Luxury footwear collections
Deadline for submissions is Jan. 22 at 11:59 p.m. PT. Selection of the top 20 designs will take place on Jan. 27.
Registration and required downloads are available at Pensole.
