D'Wayne Edwards

Dr. D’Wayne Edwards began as a 19-year-old designer for LA Gear in 1989 without formal education. He has amassed over 50 patents and created a portfolio of over 500 designs that have adorned the feet of celebrities and athletes alike, appearing in the MLB, NFL, NBA, and six different Olympics. Edwards has taught at ArtCenter, Parsons, MIT, Kolding, Harvard, and the Clinton Global Conference. In 2010, he founded PENSOLE, the U.S.'s 1st footwear design academy and placed over 800 alums across the footwear industry. Edwards opened JEMS, the 1st Black-owned athletic footwear factory in the U.S. and is leading the nation's first-ever HBCU reaccreditation process, reopening Lewis College of Business as Pensole Lewis College of Business and Design in America’s only UNESCO city of design: Detroit.