On the Rise
The young designer is looking to bring shoemaking to New Orleans while creating a name for himself in the industry.
Why 23-year-old Jelani
Hankins is a one to watch.
Designer Jelani Hankins’ footwear roots are tied to New Orleans where his grandfather, Jules Edwards Jr., owned a shoe repair shop. And he, too, is looking to create impact in The Big Easy. “My ultimate professional goal in footwear is to have a small-scale factory with an in-house brand that can offer design, development and manufacturing services,” Hankins said. “We will train local skilled laborers and offer a program for young adults to design and make footwear as portfolio pieces to submit when applying to college.” Hankins, with the help of his family, is making this dream a reality. He’s building the factory in uptown New Orleans in a familiar location: his grandfather’s storefront. During the conception and construction process, Hankins managed to churn out his first major professional milestone: his debut shoe, the Maximum Viable Product (MVP). He released the luxe sneaker in August via Instagram in the “Matzeliger” colorway. It's a black monochromatic look named after Jan Matzeliger, the inventor of the automatic shoe lasting machine. (Hankins included hidden details inspired by the invention throughout the shoe, including its patent number inside a window on the upper.) These are accomplishments for anyone, let alone the youthful executive, who is doing all of this at just 23 years old. Here, Hankins discusses what his next shoe release will be, how he creates and which footwear industry veterans have helped him along the way.