UNHEARDOF designer gives shoes to diocesan students, promotes friendship, community and perseverance

Maura Baker

Staff Writer

Seventh and eighth-grade students from St. Therese, Southgate; St. Paul, Florence; St. Philip, Melbourne and Prince of Peace, Covington, were invited to join UNHEARDOF brand shoe designer Phil Lipschutz, March 27, along with representatives from Adidas and shoe influencer and photographer Andrew Dutton, to the launch of his new collaborative sneaker at the Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati.

The “Piggy Runners” released during the drop were given for free to each student present, in bright, nostalgic spring colors. Specifically, students received the shoe in a green “Cupcake” colorway, named for one of Mr. Lipschutz’s childhood friends.

The Contemporary Arts Center welcomed students with colorful, springtime and Easter-themed décor matching Mr. Lipschutz’s shoes, and mascots of Mr. Lipschutz’s pink pig mascot “Porkchop” (named after his own childhood nickname) and green pig mascot “Cupcake” joined in the festivities.

Donating these special shoes has become a tradition for Mr. Lipschutz as a way to give back to his community, crediting especially the efforts of his former teacher and current diocesan Safe Environment director, Julie Feinauer, for his success following a turbulent childhood growing up in Latonia.

Speaking directly to the students present, Mr. Lipschutz said, “I know what it’s like with some of the challenges and some of the experiences that you guys go through, but what has really helped me through my life is my friends and building new friends and communicating with my friends. I’ve done a lot of shows with Adidas over the last few years,” he said, “I’m not going to run through them all, but a lot of them talk about mental health and suicide prevention.”

Mr. Lipschutz, who lost his sister to suicide, said that he advocates in particular for kids to “continue to talk each other” and “continue to speak up.”

“If we quit the name-calling, quit the picking on one another, and we just hash out our differences and our problems — we can ‘oink’ the whole world,” said Mr. Lipschutz, humorously referencing his pig-themed branding and mascots.

“You guys are going to change the world,” Mr. Lipschutz told students. “You guys are going to make an impact and make this an even cooler, doper planet that it already is. Without a doubt, I’m so fortunate and I’m so thankful to be alive, and you should too, because you only get one life. You’ve got to maximize it. You can’t waste it. You can’t give up on yourself.”