The unexpected challenge sneaker design students face today: "They need to know so much"

When Wilson Smith III, former Design Director at Nike Footwear, left the sportswear giant in January 2025 after an impressive 41-year tenure, he was struck with an immediate and unexpected realization: "How do I present myself or connect myself to the world now?" During his four-decade career at Nike, the company's PR and communications team had managed his public presence and persona, but once he was on his own, he was forced to ask himself a new question: "How do I want to show up?"

Speaking with FashionUnited via Zoom during SCAD Sneaker Culture Week 2025, earlier this month, Smith and fellow Nike veteran Tate Kuerbis, who worked at the company for 30 years, both came to the same realization when talking to students taking the US's first accredited sneaker design program. One of the biggest challenges design graduates are facing today is not linked to understanding the newest material or mastering the latest digital design tool, but managing personal branding and finding their way in an always-on digital world.

Why students need more than just design skills to succeed

"Students these days need to know so much about everything," points out Smith, highlighting a pressure point that goes beyond traditional design education."I've seen it myself since I left Nike," he continues. "You have to have your own kind of personal brand these days. It's something that I didn't have to think about before. Now, I need to reassess what it means to me." Referencing the musical 'A Chorus Line,' in which a character asks, "Who am I anyway? Am I my resume?"Smith acknowledges that for students and graduates navigating today's fashion landscape, defining themselves outside of their resume is much more complex. "Who am I anyway?" he wonders out loud. "Am I this social media presence? Am I all these online personas? I feel like there are so many things that I need to be today."

Touching on how he must manage multiple identities simultaneously, from his professional portfolio to working as a professor, to how he shows up in different friend groups and family relationships, to his public persona, he notes that it is quite the juggling act. "Personal marketing and branding is a much bigger hurdle these days compared to back in the day," he points out. The generational difference from when he worked as a senior designer at Nike is stark. For example, during the Michael Jordan era in the 1990s and even into the early 2000s with LeBron James, it was up to Nike's PR and communications department to help curate the athlete's brand and image in line with their products, notes Smith.

The pressures of personal branding and social media on students

Now, athletes, together with graduates and designers, have to manage their own brand, and are expected to be “an expert with an opinion on everything.” This information overload extends further than just online branding and social media management, according to Smith. Designers today need to have cultural fluency, business acumen, technical mastery, trend forecasting, and social media strategy in addition to core design skills. "Just dealing with the current state of America at the moment... navigating it is a lot," notes Smith, acknowledging the broader pressures graduates face. Managing it all, he says, is "the hardest thing."

Critical to a young designer's success is understanding where to draw boundaries, knowing which platforms to prioritize, when to engage versus disconnect, and how to maintain personal limits, believes Smith. "Don't feel like you necessarily have to do everything at once," he suggests. "Sometimes, you need to sit back and let stuff come to you a little bit at a time." In a time when it feels like everything from product design to collection launches is occurring at a faster and faster rate, slowing down may seem counterintuitive, but it can be the best option for true creativity. "Be willing to not be the first in line," says Smith. "Give yourself the time and space to think ideas, designs, and concepts through."

How sneaker design has evolved, but why design timelines haven’t

Kuerbis reflects on another way that sneaker designer roles have changed since he first started at Nike. "We didn't have material designers, color designers, or trend forecasters at the time - we had to just kinda figure it out," he says. Any type of apparel or footwear product development today involves teams of specialists in materials, sustainability, and manufacturing technology, together with input from trend forecasting. However, rather than representing a loss of autonomy, Kuerbis notes that this development has made the "design process more fun and easier." Kuerbis now collaborates with material experts within his current role as Senior Design Director at Wilson Sporting Goods, developing more sustainable options and working alongside manufacturing developers to explore new production technologies.

One challenge that has not changed for designers, however, is the production timeline. Sneaker designers tend to work 18 to 24 months in advance, "always working in the future," yet "it's almost the past when it comes out," points out Kuebris. He describes the experience using a treadmill metaphor: it "keeps getting faster and faster, you're trying to stay on as long as you can." Touching on a similar point made by Smith, he acknowledges that young designers are surrounded by seemingly limitless sources of information and inspiration, with trends moving at phone-scroll speed. Product leaks mean consumers often see sneakers before official releases, fundamentally changing the traditional reveal cycle. The analog-to-digital shift has been dramatic, as previously, consumers would only see sneakers in stores or catalogs. Now, digital saturation creates instant global visibility, making it difficult to "put your pulse on it" as trends can change before products can reach the market.

Why students shouldn’t rush to try and stay ahead of the curve

However, despite this apparent endless acceleration, both Smith and Kuerbis do offer students counterintuitive advice. For example, Smith stresses that he never had a five or ten-year plan. When he walked into a back room at Nike headquarters in 1986, expecting to be laid off, he instead received a career-defining offer. "I was just trying to pay the rent," he recalls. His main point: "You can never predict what can happen next week." He advises students again to resist the temptation to respond with urgency, even in the face of uncertainty. "Sit back and let stuff come to you a little bit." Rather than jumping at the first opportunity, he encourages students to "let it come to you, when you are free to make decisions." Students should not feel pressure to be first in line but "think it through and allow it to speak to you."

Kuerbis reinforces this philosophy with practical guidance: "Don't be afraid to try as much as you can, try different things. You're not going to figure it all out at once, right now. It's okay to fail. You learn a lot from failing." He encourages student designers to explore, experiment, and be confident in trying new approaches. During the SCAD masterclass presentation at Sneaker Culture Week, Kuerbis felt that some of the students were a little hesitant to ask him and Smith questions, with some only feeling comfortable approaching their professor afterward. The students' hesitation further highlights the pressure students may feel having to act or perform a certain way in front of industry legends, but Kuerbis's gentle reminder is another essential piece of advice: "No question is a dumb question." After more than 30 years in the industry, he emphasizes that he is still learning all the time himself. Kuerbis's humility and openness to his own personal growth and learning also mirror a wider shift he sees emerging, particularly among Gen Z and younger generations.

The importance of trying and experimenting for students

Kuerbis notes that the next generation seems to already be pushing back against the relentless speed at which the footwear and apparel industry is moving. He observes more and more younger designers "wanting to kind of slow down" and notes they are getting "a little bit tired of...mass production, how things change so quickly." There is growing appreciation for traditional craftsmanship among the younger generations as well: "It took someone four months to build this item because it was handcrafted." He finds the shift towards slower, more intentional, and local production versus overseas mass manufacturing very "refreshing and exciting to see."

A more conscious approach to design and consumption, this shift can also be viewed as a creative opportunity for designers and brands alike. Kuerbis predicts that in the near future, more utilitarian, plain, and honest sneaker designs that challenge mass production's dominance will emerge. He hopes this trend will “continue to evolve” together with a return to localized production. Smith shares this future outlook, viewing personalization as the future: consumers will “create what they need for the moment,” producing customized derivatives of core products using technology advancements such as 3D printing. For Smith, however, he believes that the future of design isn't just about new design methods or materials, but rather will be about cultivating a mindset of creative courage.

Cultivating creative courage and personal truth in sneaker design

His core message for sneaker design students of today and tomorrow transcends mastering specific technical skills. He wants students to "feel empowered to pursue their delight." He does not expect all SCAD sneaker students to become footwear designers specifically, but rather to "project themselves into the culture and dare to do something passionately expressive" of themselves and the end consumer. "I would want them to create something that fully expresses their truth, so they can blossom into who they are." Kuerbis offers students complementary practical wisdom: Designers should act like sponges, absorbing inspiration from everything around them, from architecture to furniture and pop culture. While portfolio quality matters, confidence matters equally. Students should give themselves permission to explore both fashion and performance directions, recognizing that "there are plenty of opportunities to explore both." Most importantly, he believes that students must accept that they are "not going to figure it all out at once."

At the end of both interviews, it is evident that both designers' through-line is consistent: sneaker design students of today should aim to master their craft, but should avoid losing themselves in the process. Tools, techniques, and technologies will undoubtedly change over the years, but remaining true to oneself and one's authenticity remains the leading competitive advantage. Personal brand matters, but personal truth matters more.