Champs “Walk With”
Exploring product creation
and promoting career exploration
through a three-week intensive
Fall 2021
︎ Program development and management
︎ Curriculum design
︎ Product design and marketing
︎ Strategic direction for product launch
The Story
Building on the model of our existing Straight to Feet workshop, we partnered with Foot Locker, Diadora, and FIT for a three-week sneaker intensive: Studio Next. During each week of the program students explored a different phase of product creation - concepting, design, and storytelling - centered on the theme of “making your mark.”Four student designers, Lucero Alvarez (14 years old), Bianca Coller, (16 years old), Charles Johnson (15 years old), Karina Quiridumbay (16 years old), created a ‘Walk With’ - a very special Diadora N9002 aiming to empower others to healthily think and talk about their emotions.
‘Walk With’ lives at the intersection of nature and mental wellness. It story is rooted in the fact that everyone, with an emphasis on teens, should tend to their emotional needs in order to be their best selves.
The students identified nature as an element that grounded each of them, and the shoe’s earth tone colorway represents soil, water, and grass - paying homage to NYC’s outdoor spaces. They chose suede as the main material for the shoe for its soft texture (especially at the main touchpoints of the shoe) and desire for the design to have a comforting feel. The embroidered sprout on the heel is a reminder that each step is an opportunity to grow.
‘Walk With’ leaves it up to the wearer to define what they need to be their most grounded self - be it confidence, patience, determination, compassion or whatever they need to walk with that day. It acknowledges the shared experience of nurturing one’s own mental wellbeing, while encouraging everyone’s individual journey to grow forward one step at a time and walk with what moves them.
