Nike Reflects On Doernbecher Freestyle's Anniversary
The is an annual sneaker range designed by patients at the Doernbecher Children's Hospital in Portland that has garnered plenty of fanfare over its ten years. grabbed an interview with Nike's Creative Director of Global Brand Presentations, Michael Doherty, to talk about the program's genesis and future. He confirmed that the kids themselves have a great deal of creative freedom when working with the silhouettes....
"The kids have their own vision and come up with the designs. While at Nike’s material lab they go through various materials and stuff. This isn’t a fake cosmetic program at all. It’s the real deal. The kids put their designs on the footwear and they are sometimes coming with up to 20 sketches that they want to explore. Some come with one very specific idea of what they want the shoe to look like. The designer-developers do whatever they can to carry out the kids’ visions. We really push the envelope here with the Doernbecher project in terms of footwear development and design. That’s why they are so cool and so sought after in a limited-edition kind of way. It’s because they are so unique."