New Doernbecher Freestyle Collection Celebrates 21 Years of Empowering Kids Through Design

NIKE, Inc. is celebrating more than two decades of partnership with Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) Doernbecher Children’s Hospital by debuting the 21st Doernbecher Freestyle collection of footwear silhouettes reimagined by courageous patient-designers.

The six striking styles, created through a unique partnership between Doernbecher patients and Nike volunteer product experts, will be auctioned and sold to benefit the hospital as part of a signature fundraiser that has raised more than $40 million since 2004. All profits go to the OHSU Foundation, benefiting Doernbecher, to help fund the cost of care for families in need, support specialized treatment unavailable elsewhere in the region, and expand pioneering research that helps benefit kids around the world.

Among this year’s six talented Doernbecher Freestyle patient-designers are young athletes who love softball, basketball and nature walks. The kids are also passionate about delicious food, video games, stuffed animals and fixing bikes. While they’ve all experienced challenging medical journeys, they’d much rather share what brings them joy, what words have helped them overcome their obstacles, and their appreciation for all the people who’ve helped them along the way.

Doernbecher Freestyle is important to the cultures of both Nike and OHSU Doernbecher, allowing doctors, nurses and hospital employees to join Nike designers and developers to make a difference in the lives of Doernbecher Freestyle patient-designers, their families and the hospital community. Over a nine-month process that’s among the most beloved Nike employee community-engagement experiences, the patients come together with their Nike design team volunteers to work on their designs.

Nike employee volunteers, who have numbered more than 350 over the years, review patient questionnaires and evolve their designs through multiple rounds of color and material feedback. The kids’ imaginations spark outside-the-box thinking that inspires the Nike design team to tell their stories in new, creative ways.

The collaboration reflects the partners’ shared commitment to helping kids reach their greatest potential — in sport and in life — with Nike powering a future of youth sport that invites all kids to play and Doernbecher providing life-saving care to help patients thrive.

In addition to this year’s six unique footwear silhouettes, the Doernbecher Freestyle 21 collection also includes two exclusive apparel styles featuring elements from each of the kids’ footwear designs: a men’s Nike Club Fairway Cardigan and T-shirts in men’s and kids’ sizing.

This year’s Doernbecher Freestyle footwear and apparel first becomes available at auction in Portland on October 17 before launching globally on SNKRS and at select retail locations this winter.

Learn more about the Doernbecher Freestyle 21 patient-designers and their footwear silhouettes — a Nike V2K Run, Nike Vomero Plus, Nike Air Force 1 ’07, Nike Air Max Dn8, Nike Air Max Plus and Air Jordan 17 Retro — in the galleries below.