The National Cherry Blossom Festival held its second annual ‘Blossom Kicks for Kids’ exhibit, featuring shoes designed by students throughout District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) on Wednesday, March 19 at Gallery Space at Gallery Place in Downtown, D.C.
The shoes were provided by Downtown Locker Room (DTLR), for students to showcase their creativity.
Diana Mayhew, president and CEO of the National Cherry Blossom Festival, was ecstatic about the designs the students had come up with.
“I’m so proud to be here today,” Mayhew told The Informer. “We have here on display 63 pairs of beautifully designed Nike Air Force 1’s by D.C. students from middle to high school.”
Designs ranged from superhero-themed to never-before-seen styles.
One student, Elizabeth M. from Alice Deal Middle School, paid homage to the festival by creating cherry blossom tree-themed shoes.
For Elizabeth, working on the design awakened an interest in the fashion field.
“I feel like I definitely would design something in the future. Not necessarily shoes but like shirts or pretty much everything,” she told the Informer.
Nickoy Boswell, student at Charles Hart Middle School, echoed those sentiments.
“It was something new and I liked it and I wish that I can do this in the future,” said Nickoy.
Crystal Boswell, Nickoy’s mother, was thrilled DCPS gave students this outlet to create.
“I thought it was a great opportunity for the school to bring this to the kids,” she told The Informer.
The festival’s initiative was created to “bridge art, fashion and community engagement.”
Lloyd Ferguson, DMV native who goes by the artist name of “Swaggy Picasso,” worked with Events DC to help finalize the students’ shoes.
Ferguson, who has helped custom-design sneakers for many professional athletes including Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry, was proud of the work that went into the event.
“I wanted to help kids bring their vision to life. Lots of work has went into this. We’ve had to prep [the shoes], tape them, clean them up and make them look nice,” Ferguson explained. “It was hard work but I loved it.”
His colleague, David Zambrano, who owns custom sneaker business Dez Customz, emphasized the importance of creativity for District youth.
“D.C. and creativity go hand in hand,” said Zambrano. “I think any opportunity you have to allow a child to be creative it’s extremely important, it could change their life.”
