Contest offers chance to design Chuck Taylors

If you've ever thought about designing you own sneakers, here's your chance: Jazz star and local fan favorite Kyle Korver, along with Converse, on Friday announced the launch of MyChucks, a contest that lets people design the next unique Chuck Taylor All Star shoe.

The winner will have their shoe produced by Converse and sold exclusively by Eastbay, according to a news release.

Korver submitted his own design of Chuck Taylors that will be featured online, along with a video of him designing his shoe and explaining the process. The release said his shoe features pinstripes to represent all of the people in his life, as well as a red stripe to represent himself and his desire to be an original.

Converse will produce 226 pairs of the Korver shoe, which pays homage to his jersey number 26. The shoes will be donated to the Kyle Korver Foundation, whose mission is to make a positive impact on the lives of under-privileged children by improving the quality of life for disadvantaged youth and their families.

"My grandmother was an art teacher, and she helped begin my interest in design at a young age," Korver said in a statement. "I enjoyed it so much that I majored in visual communications in college, and I've had a passion for art and design ever since."

People who want to participate in the contest should submit a scanned image of their design and a 30-second video explaining their entry to the Chuck Taylor Web site, at mychucks.eastbay.com. Submissions will be placed in an online public gallery, where visitors can vote on each design.

The top five vote getters move to the final round of judging. The winner will be announced in July on mychucks.eastbay.com. The winning shoe design will be produced and sold on Eastbay.com beginning in January 2009.

---

E-mail: jlee@desnews.com