A pair of VANS shoes designed by Laguna College of Art + Design (LCAD) Design + Digital Media student, Chris Sommers, as part of a VANS + LCAD collaboration that was on display during a Fashion Show at Festival of Arts/
For evidence that there are no stop signs at the three-way intersection of sport, innovation and commerce, look no further than the product of an unlikely collision of a track coach, his wife’s waffle iron and his entrepreneurial friend.
In 1970, when NIKE co-founder Bill Bowerman poured a urethane mixture into his wife Barbara’s waffle iron, it turned into a flexible, shock-absorbent material that he fashioned into a lightweight shoe sole that soon thereafter became NIKE’s “Moon Shoe.”
Bowerman and business partner Phil Knight used the invention to craft the outsole of the Waffle Trainer, and the shoe quickly became the top-selling running shoe and helped launch a nationwide jogging fad. The shoes, as Time magazine then wrote, were ‘’grabbed by the army of weekend jocks suffering from bruised feet.’’ And it was the waffle trainer that placed NIKE on the global athletic footwear map, giving Adidas and Puma a serious run for the money—and set the stage for its unparalleled growth. Today, Nike is a publicly traded multi-billion dollar behemoth with a vast array of shoes, apparel, and products for almost all the major sports. Today, NIKE’s “Swoosh” logo—designed for a modest paycheck of $35 in 1971 by a young graphic designer named Carolyn Davidson—has become one of the world’s most recognizable symbols.
Needless to say, NIKE knows sport and they know design. Their heritage of excellence adds substantial gravitas to NIKE’s recent choice of Laguna College of Art and Design’s (LCAD) Design + Digital Media BFA program as one of the world’s top four design programs. Last year, LCAD was selected for the NIKE Sponsored Design Studio which focused on the 2016 Olympics and how digital sports is changing the experience for the athlete, coach and fan. The studio paired LCAD students with NIKE design directors who worked as mentors to develop innovative design. The LCAD Design + Digital Media students flew to NIKE headquarters in Portland and worked with athletes and designers. A summer internship at NIKE was awarded at end of the semester class. In addition, LCAD students are currently employed at NIKE as a result of this collaborative class.
LCAD also has the first action sports design degree program in the world, which was founded five years ago through its partnership with Bob Hurley and his NIKE subsidiary company, Hurley, Intl. LCAD’s Design + Digital Media Chair, Catharin Eure, recalled the enthusiasm when she first pitched the idea of an Action Sports BFA program to Hurley and Roger Wyett, former NIKE Vice President of Action Sports. “Bob’s response was, ‘I’ve always liked to surround myself around talent and I see real talent here,’” she said. “Our partnership with Hurley and NIKE has opened the door for our students to receive experience in their chosen field and graduate with opportunities for rewarding work that utilizes their artistic design talent and skill.”
Bob Hurley at LCAD
Since then, Bob Hurley, Founding CEO of Hurley International, delivered the Commencement Address to LCAD’s Class of 2014 and received LCAD’s 2014 Innovation and Creativity Award.
LCAD President, Jonathan Burke praised Hurley’s support of LCAD’s Action Sports Design + Digital Media degree program, the first of its kind in the world. Hurley thanked the LCAD family and gave credit to the creative young graduates. “Passion and curiosity. Adults forget these things,” he said. “But without them, things can’t be invented or sold.”
NIKE and Hurley are not alone in recognizing the deep talent pool at LCAD. VANS has collaborated with LCAD Design + Digital Media for years now and, recently, Thalia Surf Shop, Laguna Beach’s hippest surf shop and many-time winner of Orange County’s best surf shop, teamed up with LCAD Design + Digital Media students to create a fashionable line of casual surf/street wear. On August 02, 2014, this LCAD + Thalia Surf Shop line and select VANS shoes designed as part of VANS/LCAD collaboration took to the catwalk in the middle of the Festival of Arts 6th Annual “Festival Runway Fashion.” There, spectators witnessed not only the results of these fantastic collaborations, but also further evidence that there are no stop signs at the three-way intersection of sport, innovation and commerce.
This was originally published on LagunaBeach.com
