PENSOLE World Sneaker Championship Design To Launch Exclusively At Select Foot Locker Stores Globally

NEW YORK, Feb. 22, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Foot Locker, Inc. (NYSE: FL), the New York-based specialty athletic retailer, in collaboration with PENSOLE Footwear Design Academy, today unveiled the winning sneaker design for the 2016 PENSOLE World Sneaker Championship Powered by Foot Locker. The shoe will be sold in limited quantity at select Foot Locker stores around the globe on Saturday, Feb. 25, 2017.

The winning sneaker from the 2016 competition, designed by Maxwell Lund of Morton, Minn., was selected via public bracket-style voting from the top 64 finalists around the globe. After the consumer voting period closed with two finalists, a panel of industry judges selected the final design.

Lund's design was handcrafted in Portugal by Portugal Footwear and features a FE (For Ever) molded EVA outsole, three different grades of fine Portugal leather, lasered signature of the winning designer on top of the pull tab, World Sneaker Championship logo on the heel and metal lace tips. Each shoe is individually numbered on the back of the tongue and comes in a box with straps so it converts into a backpack.

"The World Sneaker Championship changed everything for me," said Lund, WSC winning designer. "Before the tournament, footwear design was nothing more than a dream of mine. This tournament has made me believe in myself."

Lund's World Sneaker Championship winning design will be unveiled at the World Sneaker Championship Experience (WSCX) at NYC33 in New York City tonight. The one-of-a-kind PENSOLE shoe will be sold at Foot Locker stores in New York, Los Angeles, Portland, Ore., Toronto, Sydney, London, Paris, Milan, Madrid and on footlocker.com and footlocker.eu – with only 300 pairs retailing worldwide for $180 (USD). For release procedures and store locations, visit Foot Locker's Launch Locator.

"We're excited to partner with PENSOLE to bring World Sneaker Championship to the next level by selling the winning sneaker at Foot Locker," said Stacy Cunningham, vice president of marketing for Foot Locker. "PENSOLE Footwear Design Academy continues to inspire the next generation of sneaker designers and we're thrilled to have some of the industry's most innovative sneakers available exclusively at Foot Locker."

Foot Locker will continue its WSC partnership with PENSOLE for 2017. This year's top 64 finalists will be announced this Saturday, following the retail launch of the 2016 winning design, via Foot Locker Facebook Live stream at 6 p.m. ET. For more information and to vote on the 2017 WSC competition, visit: https://worldsneakerchampionship.com/