Designer Brands Inc. is the parent company of Designer Shoe Warehouse (DSW). The corporation recently made a whopping $2 million investment into Pensole Lewis College of Business & Design to make history.
The investment will establish the country’sootwear factory and solidify an “exclusisolidifyibution partnership” with the Detroit-based HBCU.
Students attending Pensole Lewis College will get the opportunity to design shoes that, after being commercially manufactured in a New England factory, will exclusively be sold at DSW.
“We see the footwear industry lacking effective representation by people of color, specifically [Black people], and this $2 million investment will address root causes to remove barriers,” Designer Brands CEO, Roger Rawlins, said.
“[Black people] represent less than five percent of those across all design industries, thus lacking much-needed diversity. Designer Brands and DSW’s commitment with Pensole will create a U.S.-based shoe factory with the goal of all work leading to the launch of Black designers’ brands inside of DSW,” he added.
Pensole Lewis College is the first HBCU with a focus on design. They have recently received a major investment to advance the schools efforts. https://t.co/nE2FkJQ3Cj
— Atlanta Black Star (@ATLBlackStar) March 7, 2022
Dr. D’Wayne Edwards, President of Pensole Lewis College, also addressed how this new partnership will help give young, Black creatives a groundbreaking platform.
“You can design products all day long, and you can find factory resources to make samples and make production—but if you don’t have a distribution partner, then your business ends up failing or not getting off the ground,” Edwards said. “We want to make sure that they understand the proper way to launch a brand and actually to conduct the business.”
The first pairs of shoes are anticipated to drop in September. Edwards will design the first couple of pairs to get the ball rolling, though Pensole students can “submit their designs for consideration moving forward.”
As Blavity previously reported, Pensole Lewis College will reopen this month. The college first opened its doors back in 1928 and later “officially clos[ed] in 2015.” The institution will notably soon become America’s first reinstated HBCU.
