With DEI at a critical inflection point, cultivating diverse talent is more important than ever before. As part of our commitment to champion diversity across the industry, the 2024 FN Black History Month Spotlight will highlight the new wave of talent that has emerged in recent years, including brand builders, design innovators, content creators and more.
Although early on in their careers, Adidas designers Eliya Jackson and Daziah Green have already worked on several exciting footwear silhouettes that have elevated their names and reputations within the sneaker world.
The project that boosted the profile of Jackson, 24, an assistant footwear designer for lifestyle basketball at Adidas, was the bespoke footwear designed for “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” in November 2022. Jackson, who became a full-time assistant footwear designer at Adidas just seven months earlier in April, was the lead footwear designer on the project.
As for Green, 29, an assistant footwear designer for performance basketball at Adidas, her biggest project to date was the “Encanto” Forum Low she designed in October 2023. The look, which was inspired by the character Mirabel, was part of Disney Create100, an effort that served both as a celebration of 100 years of the Walt Disney Company and an auction to support the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
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Both Jackson and Green said these opportunities wouldn’t have been possible without Adidas S.E.E.D., a paid two-year college alternative footwear design program for Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) women.
“I never once for a second cared for people to know my name. I just wanted to be in the industry and have the opportunity to create good product. That’s literally all I was trying to achieve,” Jackson said. “People recognize us because we’ve done cool stuff so early on, it’s the opportunities that we’ve been given, and that’s a huge shout out to S.E.E.D. because my career started when they accepted me. I owe that program a lot.”
Green added, “The women [in sneaker design] before me, I hadn’t really heard about them and their accomplishments. These are well decorated women, but they didn’t receive the recognition they deserved as sneaker and footwear designers. Now, I want to be the representation. I want people to see they can do this. And those women [before me], I know them and they’re now my mentors.”
Adidas S.E.E.D., which stands for the School for Experiential Education in Design, was founded by Jessica Smith and Liz Connelly within Adidas, and was developed in partnership with Pensole Design Academy (now the Pensole Lewis College of Business & Design). In January 2020, S.E.E.D. welcomed its first cohort, which Jackson was a part of.
Jackson said Cheresse Thornhill-Goldson, who was her teacher at the Design and Architecture Senior High School (DASH) in Miami, introduced her to Adidas S.E.E.D. after graduation. Thornhill-Goldson currently serves as the Adidas S.E.E.D. director of design education and growth.
“College was so expensive, and I tried art school and it didn’t work out. At that point, I didn’t know if I was going to become a footwear designer,” she said. “I didn’t have any idea how to get into the industry. When S.E.E.D. came, it brought so much joy, it brought community. I saw my future when I got accepted into S.E.E.D. It is everything to me, and it’s going to mean a lot to others — especially women of color.”
She continued, “S.E.E.D. is a pipeline, it gives women of color access to the industry who didn’t have access. You literally have connections with people who have been in the industry 10-plus years, you have all the tools at your advantage. You have women in S.E.E.D. who didn’t take a design class in high school but they have an interest and a passion for design or creating or problem solving.”
Green’s path to S.E.E.D. was a bit unorthodox.
When she’s not designing footwear, Green plays women’s tackle football in the Women’s National Football Conference (WNFC), which happens to be sponsored by Adidas. Green said her coach, Elizabeth Jenkins, spoke with a friend she had at Adidas to inquire about the program, and then encouraged her player to apply. Green transitioned from S.E.E.D. to her full-time assistant footwear designer role in July 2023.
“S.E.E.D. has taught us so much about our strengths, vouching for ourselves and our ideas, and knowing who we are so we can be the voice in the room and speak with confidence,” Green said.
Now with a seat at the table, both Jackson and Green feel responsible to open the door for others.
“Being in this space, you recognize there are quite a number of BIPOC women, just not in design. If we’re talking about silhouette design specifically, there’s not a lot of BIPOC women,” Jackson said. “I’m encouraged to show other Black women that they also can enter the space. We have four generations of S.E.E.D. now, and we’re about to have five, so there’s going to be a lot more of us here, which I’m excited about.”
Green added, “I’m the only Black woman on my design team, and it’s surreal being in this space. My team is doing amazing things, the brand is growing and I’m excited to be a part of it all. And I’m excited not to just be in this space, but also to open the door for the next generation and make sure there are more who come after me.”
Although sparse on details, Jackson and Green offered a look at what’s to come in 2024. Jackson said she has worked on a new model in the Crazy IIInfinity lifestyle basketball shoe franchise, which will debut in October. As for Green, she said she is working on a women’s performance basketball sneaker and is looking forward to seeing it on the feet of high school and college athletes, WNBA players and others.
About the Author
Peter Verry is the Senior News and Features Editor for Athletic and Outdoor at Footwear News. He oversees coverage of the two fast-paced and ultracompetitive markets, which includes conducting in-depth interviews with industry leaders and writing stories on sneakers and outdoor shoes. He is a lifelong sneaker addict (and shares his newest purchases via @peterverry on Instagram) and spends most of his free time on a trail. He holds an M.A. in journalism from Hofstra University and can be reached at peter.verry@footwearnews.com.
