COWS, PORTFOLIOS AND INTERVIEWS, NETWORKING.
I'll admit it, today was the first day in a long time that I felt any amount of humidity. It was still beautiful, though. 73º and partly cloudy.
Swatch sample of Sadesa Leather.
Today was the last of the material days. Our main focus was leather, but it also included some classic Ms. Suzette stories. We learned everything that happens with leather, from feed for the cows to green hides to wet blues and finished leathers. We also touched on pig and goat hides. Fun fact, most nubuck leathers are pig skin. And another fun fact, pig suede will often bleed its dye far more than cow suede.
After the leather lecture, we got to witness first-hand what happens when professional designers look through portfolios. The three judges were Cheresse Thornhill (Nike, Footwear Design Lead), Justin Taylor (Jordan Brand, Senior Footwear Designer), and Estelle Maranan (Under Armour, Senior Footwear Developer). The judges were very vocal on what they liked and what they didn't like and they picked one person to give a mock interview. It was an unusual but very beneficial and educational experience to sit through.
Once the portfolio reviews and mock interviews were done we had a chance to network and talk to many of the Pensole grads that stopped by on their half-day Friday.
A boot leather perforation swatch.
Neon green dyed pigskin leather from Wolverine.
