Davidsonville Designer Is One Step Closer To Selling Shoes In Foot Lockers Worldwide

DAVIDSONVILLE, MD — A Davidsonville college student has the chance to have his shoe design manufactured and sold at Foot Lockers around the world if he wins the 2017 Pensole World Sneaker Championship. Joe Carson progressed to the next round of the World Sneaker Championship, and is now competing against 31 other contestants in the top 32.

"It was amazing to see the sneaker culture really come together and support my passion and my footwear design in the competition," Carson told Patch. "Seeing my design make it to the top 32 was one step closer towards my dream and I only hope that I can continue to make it to the next rounds."

Carson, a 21-year-old student at the University of Maryland, founded and established his own shoe company called "CarsonCustomKicks" when he was a senior at South River High School.

"I've always been into shoes my whole life," Carson told Patch. "I always wanted to be that kid that had a pair of shoes that nobody else had."

Carson entered into the 2017 World Sneaker Championship, where contestants were told to design a "lifestyle sneaker" that features original styling, quality materials and meaningful use of color. Carson entered a design he describes as "the new age loafer," and made it to the top 64, and then the top 32.

"It has always been my dream to release my own footwear design to the public," Carson told Patch.

Voters can view and vote for Carson's design here. The next round is the top 16, then the top 8, top 4 and lastly, the championship round.

Carson combined his artistic talents and love for shoes to create his own, unique shoes. More and more students at his high school asked him to customize their own shoes, and that's when Carson got the idea for CarsonCustomKicks.

Now, people who wish for a completely individual design send Carson their shoes and let him do his magic. He uses paints and dyes to give them that special, custom design.

Carson said the prices vary, but he usually charges anywhere from $50 to $200 depending on the design the customer wants.

Carson's passion for shoes continued into college, where he studies graphic design.

"Most kids want to be a famous singer, or in a band or a sports player, but not many kids have a route if they want to be a professional footwear designer," Carson said.

That all changed when Carson was awarded a scholarship to attend a prestigious footwear academy in Oregon, called Pensole Footwear Design Academy. This academy teaches students about the entire footwear design process, including concept-development, design process, prototyping, marketing, business and more.

His internship at Under Armour also helped him learn the ropes of design.

See Related: Davidsonville Designer Vies To Sell Shoes In Foot Lockers Worldwide

During his time at the academy in January of 2016, he heard about the Pensole World Sneaker Championship.

His design (pictured above) was inspired from a 3M painting respirator mask that he wears daily when he creates his custom footwear. A painting respirator mask is what an artist wears to protect them from paint fumes and toxins, he said.

Carson said the lacing on his shoe design simulates the lockdown system on his painting mask. He plans to create his shoe even if it doesn't win the championship, since he's gotten great feedback already. He plans to continue interning and is gearing up to graduate next year.

"If I were to win the competition, that would be my dream come true," Carson said. "It would truly be amazing to be able to have my footwear design released, being only 21 years old. I think it would really jumpstart my footwear design career and put me on the map."

Check out Carson's website and Instagram to see all of his shoe creations, and don't forget to vote until 11:59 p.m. Friday, March 17.

Photos: Joe Carson