If you tuned in to the WearTesters Instagram story last night you witnessed the unveiling of the winning sneaker design for the 2016 PENSOLE World Sneaker Championship Powered by Foot Locker.
Designed by Maxwell Lund of Morton, Minn., the winning design will be sold in very limited quantities — only 300 pairs worldwide — at select Foot Locker stores around the globe on Saturday, February 25 for $180. According to PENSOLE, his design was selected via public bracket-style voting from the top 64 finalists around globe. After the consumer voting closed with two finalists, a panel of industry judges selected the final design.
Lund’s design was handcrafted in Portugal by Portugal Footwear and uses a FE (For Ever) molded EVA outsole, plus three different grades of fine Portuguese leather. Notable details include the Lund’s lasered signature on top of the pull tab, the World Championship logo on the heel, and metal lace tips. Each shoe is individually numbered on the back of the tongue, but the best part may be that it comes in a box with straps that can be converted into a backpack.
“The World Sneaker Championship changed everything for me,” said Maxwell Lund. “Before the tournament, footwear design was nothing more than a dream of mine. This tournament has made me believe in myself.”
Unveiled at the World Sneaker Championship Experience (WSCX) at NYC33 in New York last night. The one of a kind PENSOLE shoe will be sold at Foot Locker stores in New York, Los Angeles, Portland (Oregon), Toronto, Sydney, London, Paris, Milan, and Madrid. Some pairs will hit FootLocker.com and FootLocker.eu. For release procedures and store locations, visit Foot Locker’s Launch Locator.
“World Sneaker Championship has continued to grow, and partnering with Foot Locker has only amplified that,” said D’Wayne Edwards, founder of PENSOLE Design Academy. “With more than 5,700 registrants from over 57 different countries and 300,000 voting public in 2016, I can only imagine what’s in store for this year’s competition. The reach of sneaker culture around the globe is really amazing to see.”
Foot Locker will extend its WSC partnership with PENSOLE into 2017. This year’s top 64 finalists will be announced this Saturday via Foot Locker Facebook Live at 6 PM ET. To vote on the 2017 WSC competition, click here.
“We’re excited to partner with PENSOLE to bring World Sneaker Championship to the next level by selling the winning sneaker at Foot Locker,” said Stacy Cunningham, vice president of marketing for Foot Locker. “PENSOLE Footwear Design Academy continues to inspire the next generation of sneaker designers and we’re thrilled to have some of the industry’s most innovative sneakers available exclusively at Foot Locker.”
What do you think of Maxwell Lund’s design? Some people may be upset at the price tag, but for $180 you’re getting a unique one of a kind design handcrafted in Italy — that’s more than you can say about any JB retro or UltraBoost drop.
Source: Foot Locker / photos via @tsestanley23
Good for him. Perhaps next time they could also have performance categories for specific sports and training regimes. The basketball shoe would be very interesting.
*training regimens
You’re on top of the game. Thanks for shraing.
air money lacing system
I request more people would make a note sites like this that are in truth actocmodaming to read. With all the thistledown floating almost on the net, it is rare to look over a locate like yours instead.
Your feet will be sweating balls after an hour, too much leather, no breathability, but gteat design tho
This is the kid that Hes Kicks is promoting all the time lol. These shoes are super ugly imo
What do you mean “hes kicks is promoting?”
He used to shout him out all the time a while a back. I think this kid used to send him sneaker drawings and stuff so Hes would shout out his Instagram and his work
Gotcha, never noticed that
Interesting design. I don’t think that I could pull it off but it is creativity at its best and I admire that.
You’re too modest because I’m pretty sure you could pull it off. I’d be down to try these on-feet.
Mad props to this kid. Really didn’t get his dues in this comment section.
Great color-blocking and a unique design concept (utilizing tongue on the OUTSIDE as a lockdown mechanism? nice).
Copped these this weekend, the shoe looks even fresher on feet. No need to dress up to rock then, a plain tee and black jeans is enough for these.
The sole reminds me of the KD Trey 5 III.
At first I thought these were ugly, then I kept scrolling and they looked better. That guy is a great artist though.
How much are these?
Thanks for the article
180