DSW Partnering With Michigan's Only HBCU To Open First Black-Owned Footwear Factory

(CBS Detroit) -- Designer Brands Inc., the parent company of DSW Designer Shoe Warehouse is putting up $2 million to start a partnership with Pensole Lewis College of Business and Design (PLC) in Detroit.

The college is the nation's first HBCI focused exclusively on design.

DSW will create a new line of shoes built in a Black-owned factory -- JEMS by Pensole -- and designed by students at PLC.

"The footwear industry needs more diversity. The partnership we are entering into with Designer Brands and DSW is a new business model that truly empowers the consumer to influence the industry toward that goal," said Dr. D'Wayne Edwards, president of PLC. "Together with Pensole, Designer Brands and DSW will provide designers opportunities to offer new products directly to consumers. Along the way we will create careers and invest in talented aspiring designers to become the future of our industry."

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