This Sneaker Benefits Black Designers Of Canada

To celebrate Black History Month, eBay Canada has partnered with Canadian sneaker designer George Sully on an exclusive sneaker collab, with all proceeds going to the Black Designers of Canada charity. We chatted with George to find out more. —Noa Nichol

Hello George! Please tell us a bit about yourself to start

I’m what you would call a multidisciplinary designer, but first and foremost I’m a footwear designer.

Congrats on the launch of your exclusive sneaker collaboration with eBay! How did this partnership come about, and what made it a perfect fit (pun intended) for you?

Some of the members of the eBay Canada team were familiar with my work in fashion and philanthropy and wanted to find a really cool way to help both at the same time. eBay has been a big part of the sneaker community for years and they’re really big on supporting small businesses, so it was a no brainer for me. In fact, this sneaker collaboration is part of a broader partnership where eBay will be offering an exclusive webinar to onboard designers from my charity, Black Designers of Canada to their Up & Running program. As part of this program, eBay will work with the designers and further educate them about e-commerce and how they can grow and scale their business on eBay.

In terms of design, what was the inspiration behind your limited-edition George Sully x eBay sneakers? Can you speak more to the quote that’s printed on every pair?

I pulled inspiration from the struggles and lack of inclusion often inflicted on designers of colour. More specifically I pulled from a personal quote of mine explaining our appreciation of finally being invited to the table, at the same time acknowledging our contributions of said tables foundation. The sneakers are now available for pre-order and you can check them out online.

We hear there’s a charitable competent to this team up; can you tell us about that?

One hundred per cent of the proceeds will go to my non-profit initiative Black Designers of Canada. I founded Black Designers of Canada in 2020 to highlight and amplify the reach of black designers across Canada. The charity is the first-ever comprehensive Canadian index celebrating Black excellence in design.

It’s Black History Month; what does it mean to you, and what do you think Canadians can do to celebrate and support?

I’m the mindset for celebrating of black excellence every day. I often like to remind my fellow Canadian that I’ll still be black in March so we should get in the habit of celebrating and support black creatives 365 days a year.

What is your advice for those of us who are not part of the Black community, but wish to gain more knowledge/understanding and be allies?

I would say, the most honourable and tremendously courageous act an ally of the black community can do on our behalf, is stand against racism, when we are not in the room.

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