{"id":545150,"date":"2017-07-08T18:16:12","date_gmt":"2017-07-08T22:16:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/?p=545150"},"modified":"2017-07-10T02:40:34","modified_gmt":"2017-07-10T06:40:34","slug":"nigel-langley-landed-adidas-job-become-industrys-youngest-sneaker-designer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/nigel-langley-landed-adidas-job-become-industrys-youngest-sneaker-designer\/","title":{"rendered":"How Nigel Langley Landed An Adidas Job To Become The Industry’s Youngest Sneaker Designer"},"content":{"rendered":"

words \/\/ Nick DePaula<\/a>:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Decades ago, top designers polished their craft through years of design school or even university architecture programs, while not knowing they’d eventually end up designing sneakers. More recently, aspiring artists have honed their skils through footwear-specific programs like D’Wayne Edwards’ Pensole Academy.\u00a0Nowadays, simply posting quality work and innovative concepts on a personal social media account can catch the attention of just the right person.<\/p>\n

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Adidas VP Marc Dolce’s initial Instagram direct message response to Nigel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For Nigel Langley Jr<\/strong>, that’s exactly how he landed a coveted role at the adidas Brooklyn Creator Farm last year, making him the youngest designer in the footwear industry at just 17 years-old. After making the hour-plus daily trek from his hometown of Bloomfield, New Jersey to the Brooklyn studio, he’s been working away at the brand’s esteemed innovation and design space on a flurry of top-secret projects.<\/p>\n

The Farm is currently designing for initiatives slated to launch in 2019 and 2020.<\/p>\n

“It all started out in the most modern of fashions,” smiles Nigel. “Actually, through Instagram.”<\/p>\n

Thanks to a nudge from one of his classmates, Instagram became the showcase space for his raw talent.<\/p>\n

“I was sketching in a driver\u2019s ed class one day when a good friend of mine suggested that I post my work on Instagram,” he recalls. “Whenever I would post, I would tag the designers I admired and looked up to, like Marc Dolce, Denis Dekovic, Mark Miner and Scott Robertson. I just kept at it, reaching out to different designers and brands in an effort to start any dialog.”<\/p>\n

In a first-person essay on the adidas blog<\/a>, Langley recently described his passions, aspirations and design perspectives. As he outlines, it was through a series of initial direct message conversations with adidas design VP Marc Dolce way back in the fall of 2015, when he was just 16, that eventually led him down the path of the job offer.<\/p>\n

After a back and forth of Instagram exchanges, Dolce invited Langley to meet with him after a class at Brooklyn’s Pratt Institute, where he was co-teaching a design course at his former school. While looking to simply impart some wisdom and advice for the emerging artist, Dolce came away inspired by Langley’s ambition and raw art talent.<\/p>\n

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\u2022 It was so great to meet the talented @_Nigel_Langley today at @PrattInstitute. I was so impressed with Nigel’s skills and his eagerness to learn about footwear design. He’s only 16, and his future is bright!<\/a><\/p>\n

A post shared by Marc Dolce (@marcdolce) on