The Parsons School of Fashion BFA Fashion Design Program partnered with Keds: the iconic American shoe company first launched over 100 years ago.

Keds shoes are accessible and affordable, but they don’t last forever. People tend to throw their worn out Keds away. BFA students were tasked to reimagine and mitigate this unfortunate reality. How can we “stop the dump”? Keds knows that the used shoe materials can be repurposed, both the canvas uppers and the rubbers. The shoe uppers can be deconstructed and washed; the rubber can be recycled and crumbled. Keds worked with BFA Fashion Product students to find new uses for the recycled materials, either as art or new products.

The partnership was delivered across three interconnected Year 2 core courses: Design Studio 2, Creative Technical Studio 2 and Visual Communication Studio 2 in the Spring Semester of 2023.

Student Teams
KGenes Inc: Yuhan Zhao, Clara Xinwei Zhang, Yurong Zhao
Raef: Hanson Zhao, Tianyun Lan, Alison Yifei Li
3ng: Link Shanglin Li, Carol Jiayu Guo, Lillian Siqi Rong
Keddos: Vic Ni, Lexie Xinyi Hu, Anna Luo
Superpowered Keds Fire Fashion: Lily Myrna Sisson, Julie Wu, Park Benfield

Parsons School of Fashion Team
Program Director, BFA Fashion Design: Marie Genevieve Cyr
Pathway Leader for Fashion Product Pathway & Keds BFA Partnership Lead: Jane Francis, Associate Director, BFA Fashion Design
Core Course Faculty: Stone Hubbard (Creative Technical Studio 2), Deshon Varnado (Design Studio 2), Olimpia Dior (Visual Communication Studio 2)

Keds Team
Jen Lynch: Vice President and General Manager
Janice Kwan: Vice President of Global Product
Nicole Underwood: Director of Brand, Energy, and Collaborations
Lulu Swartz: Senior Brand Marketing Specialist
Stephanie Iuni: Senior Designer