Nike Officially Unveils the Doernbecher Freestyle 21 Collection
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Since 2004, Nike has teamed up with the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) Doernbecher Children’s Hospital to give patients the opportunity to create their own footwear designs. Not only do the kids get to enjoy their creation, but they share them with the world too, as the release of the yearly Doernbecher Freestyle Collection has raised more than $40 million for the OHSU Foundation.
This year marks the 21st Freestyle Collection, and includes six patients: Zach Rumbaugh, Khovny Vignery, Molly Bell, Oli Fasone-Lancaster, Raegan Scheid, and Sergio Cano Marquez. Each was able to sit with Nike employee volunteers over a nine-month period to help bring their passions, the things that bring them joy, and personal touches to their respective footwear design. The sneakers featured this year are the Air Jordan 17 (Rumbaugh), V2K Run (Vignery), Vomero Plus (Bell), Air Force 1 Low (Fasone-Lancaster), Air Max DN8 (Scheid), and Air Max Plus (Marquez).
The Doernbecher Freestyle 21 Collection will first be released at an auction in Portland tonight, October 17. A wider release via Nike SNKRS and select retailers will take place this winter. Below, we’ve highlighted each patient, their story, and the sneaker they designed. For more updates on the Doernbecher collection, including exact release info as it becomes available, download the Sole Retriever mobile app.
Zach Rumbaugh - Air Jordan 17
A love of mechanical things, especially bikes and cars, helped inspire Zach Rumbaugh’s Air Jordan 17 collab. Zach suffers from Catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT), a rare genetic heart disorder that causes rapid irregular heartbeats, and after a cardiac arrest, he spent 38 days at the hospital. That number plays a role in his AJ 17, with 38 applied to the lace lock and on an added hangtag. There’s also a heart on the lace lock that symbolizes CPR awareness.
Suede on the collar mimics luxury car interiors, while the iridescent heel clip was created to look like burnt titanium exhaust tips. The entire upper is coated in an iridescent eggplant purple color, inspired by custom car wraps, while the outsole is given a glow-in-the-dark finish to mimic how engine headers glow under high temperatures. Finally, his love of cats is displayed on the toebox with a cat graphic.
Doernbecher x Air Jordan 17 Zach Rumbaugh
Khovny Vignery - Nike V2K Run
Thanks to doctors Stephanie and Dmitry Dukhovny (who she is named after), Khovny Vignery is here today. She was born prematurely and suffered from congenital chylothorax, a condition where chyle accumulates in the space between the lungs and chest wall in newborns. She takes her love of drawing, dancing, snakes, and personal mementos to inspire the design of her Nike V2K Run. The sneaker comes mismatched with blue hues on the left shoe and pink on the right. Starting with the pink shoe, she adds her stuffed monkey Pinky Doo Doo alongside a sequin-laden snake (her parents won’t let her have an actual snake). For the blue shoe, a drawing of her favorite stuffy, Papa Bear, is added to the lacing system. It even features a push-activated light.
Both sneakers have furry panels along the tongue, golden faux reptile skin, glitter-filled Swoosh logos, butterflies on the heel, and frilly lace around the eyelets. Detachable friendship bracelets are found on the heel, with one honoring her late brother Ryan, who passed away from the same rare disorder as her. Finishing the design is the mismatched glow-in-the-dark outsole.
Doernbecher x Nike V2K Run Khovny Vignery
Molly Bell - Nike Vomero Plus
Molly, who was diagnosed with autism, loves the great outdoors. So much so that she dreams of becoming a field biologist. With that in mind, she took inspiration from nature, the woods, and flora & fauna for her very own Nike Vomero Plus. The color palette clearly draws from the woods, with a green mesh and suede upper mimicking grass and brown details harkening images of trees. Also included with the shoe is a field guide to help others explore the outdoors.
Throughout Molly’s design is her favorite camas flower, which is found in her home state of Oregon. It’s embroidered across the upper on the lateral side. Final details on the upper include a furry animal print on the tongue, two-tone green laces, and a camas flower on the pull tab. Inside, Molly’s name sits beside another camas flower graphic. Finishing the design is the brown and blue outsole with a cloven hoof graphic found near the toe.
Doernbecher x Nike Vomero Plus Molly Bell
Oli Fasone-Lancaster - Nike Air Force 1 Low
Food is something that connects all of us. A great meal, and especially one that is made by a loved one, can be indescribably good and make us feel loved. One day, Oli Fasone-Lancaster, who underwent treatment for T-cell lymphoma, a cancer that attacks white blood cells, hopes to be able to provide that feeling as a chef. Before he can get behind the line, Oli designed a Nike Air Force 1 that leans into his love of cooking. The color palette doesn’t immediately scream “YES CHEF,” but the added utensils on the Swoosh, the olive tree-inspired heel tab, and the various foodstuffs on the sidewall of the sole unit make it obvious.
On the tongue sits a lace dubrae with the number “572” etched in. In order to walk a marathon, you’d need to circle the Doernbecher oncology inpatient unit 572 times. Oli did this in a pair of Air Force 1s during his cancer treatments, making his collab on the model even more special. Outside of food being a big factor in his recovery, with Oli taking different medical terms like “platelets” and “cellcept” and turning them into food-themed terms (pasta and salsa, respectively), he loved to paint rainbows.
One of these rainbow designs is applied to the insole. Final details include a hidden nod to Chef Oli’s signature dishes, veggie tacos and African yam stew, inside the tongue, and interchangeable heel patches with his family initials, personally curated symbols, and references to the sports he can now play.
Alongside his Air Force 1 design, which hits retail in the coming months, Oli has his own Chipotle-themed sneaker from Nike. The shoe is not part of the Doernbecher Freestyle 21 collection and will not go to retail, but it will be auctioned off at the gala. Of course, Oli has a few pairs for himself.
Doernbecher x Nike Air Force 1 Low Oli Fasone-Lancaster
Raegan Scheid - Nike Air Max DN8
As soon as Raegan Scheid recovered from her open-heart surgery, which was required due to anomalous aortic origin of the right coronary artery (AAORCA), she was back on the softball field. Raegan was also finally able to return to the beach, her happy place. She blends her love for both softball and the beach on her Nike Air Max DN8, covering the sneaker in a mixture of pink, white, yellow, and blue. An added keychain displays the date “5/11/24,” the first day Raegan was able to play softball again. Hidden within the upper are nods to softball, like fields, balls, and gloves, while the Dynamic Air unit in the midsole comes with softball stitching details.
Raegan also made sure to show love to her golden retriever, Blue, who guest stars on the metallic gold keychain. As for her love of the beach, the foam portions of the midsole are coated in wave graphics. On the tongue is a custom heart logo nodding to AAORCA. Final details include a custom insole with the words that kept her going during her challenging times, “I CAN DO HARD THINGS,” and her name on the Air Max logo on the heel tab.
Doernbecher x Nike Air Max DN8 Raegan Scheid
Sergio Cano Marquez - Nike Air Max Plus
Although Sergio Cano Marquez suffers from Mucopolysaccharidosis type IV A (MPS IVA), a rare disorder where the body cannot properly break down certain molecules, which can lead to a variety of issues, like skeletal abnormalities, joint problems, cloudy corneas, heart problems, and more, he doesn’t let that define him. His Nike Air Max Plus comes mismatched, with each shoe getting a specific theme. The right shoe in black (for nighttime) honors his love of video games and drawings with video game controllers, ghosts, and other artwork. The left shoe in white (for daytime) features monster lizards eating pizza against the New York City skyline.
The tongue tag contains orange pebbled leather, a nod to his love of basketball. Also featured here is a Cool S, something all of us have drawn at one point during our lives. Sergio’s name is split between the heel of each sneaker in 8-bit pixel font. Helping finish the design and the day/night theme are the glow-in-the-dark outsoles, done in a mismatched green and blue finish.
Doernbecher x Nike Air Max Plus Sergio Cano Marquez
Sneakerhead from South Florida who turned his passion into a career. When not writing for Sole Retriever, I enjoy attending concerts and catching the latest movies. Email: nick@soleretriever.com
