Yahoo Finance These red-hot Nikes were designed by a teen for charity
The Nike Air Foamposite Premium shoes were re-released for $230 via the Nike (NKE) SNKRS app — and they were designed by a teenager.
The shoes were first designed in 2013 by then 13-year-old Elijah Diggins, one of a handful of kids that year to participate in the Doernbecher Freestyle Project, a partnership between Nike and the OHSU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland, Oregon, in which young patients at the hospital work with Nike designers to create their own sneakers and apparel.
Diggins, who was diagnosed with Burkitt leukemia, chose the mostly red upper to symbolize the blood cancer and in honor of his favorite athlete LeBron James, who wore the red-and-black of the Miami Heat at the time. The kicks also sport a tag featuring Diggins’s initials in the shape of a smiley-face and the Chinese/Japanese characters for the word “courage.”
Today, Diggins is in remission and a sophomore in college. The shoe was so popular that Nike re-released it to mark the program’s 15th anniversary.
Doernbecher designs
Each year, six Doernbecher patients take part in the program — and the process is hands on. The kids are in the driver's seat from beginning to end. Nike uses a questionnaire to spark the kids’ imaginations: “Who’s your favorite Superhero?” “What’s your day like?” “What sports do you play?”
The inspiration for the program came from a 14-year-old in 2003. That boy was Connor, the son of former Nike creative director Michael Doherty, who was on the board at the hospital at the time. Connor thought that giving kids the chance to design their own shoe would be a great way to engage their imaginations and to also help them heal.
Dr. Dana Braner, physician-in-chief at OHSU Doernbecher, says Connor got it right: “In some ways, I think a program like Freestyle can be more powerful to the healing process than medicine itself. [It] creates a sense of hope and community that can be more important to a young child than any number of doctors or nurses. Doernbecher Freestyle is a result of a ton of good forces coming together at the right time and place for these kids.”
Sheridan Brenton of Estacada, Oregon, knows all about how the program can help with the healing process. After a near-fatal car accident left the then 10-year-old fighting for his life, the boy endured numerous life-saving reconstructive surgeries at the hospital on his face and to reattach his right arm. A few years into his recovery, Nike asked Sheridan to design the first shoe in the Doernbecher Freestyle line. Brenton recalls feeling ecstatic. “Who’s gonna say no to that!” he told Yahoo Finance.
Brenton get to design a shoe that was worn by arguably the greatest NBA player of all time: Michael Jordan. The Air Jordan 2 was the canvas that Nike chose for the then 14-year-old to design.
Brenton chose green, black, and gold — his school’s colors — for the shoe’s main colorways. The entire process took about six months, Brenton recalled. Over that time, the young man regularly met with the Nike and Jordan design teams. And since the shoe Sheridan designed was a Jordan signature model it had to gain approval from Michael Jordan himself.
Sheridan said he also chose green to symbolize money. Ever since he was a boy, Brenton dreamed of following in his father’s footsteps to become a financial advisor. The paisleys on the shoe were meant to mimic those on money, he said. Brenton is currently working for his father’s investment firm in Oregon while en route to becoming a financial advisor.
Proceeds from the sales go to benefit the OHSU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital. More than $24 million has been raised to date through the program to help support the advancement of pediatric medical research.
The Doernbecher line has become a coveted item among sneakerheads, and the sneakers in the series command top dollar on the resale market. Nike Air Foamposite Premium may retail at $230, but the resale value of this popular model ranges from $500 to about $1599.
Reggie Wade is a writer for Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter at @ReggieWade
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