Donwan Harrell

Who is Donwan Harrell?

Donwan Harrell is founder and creative director of the New York-based luxury denim line PRPS. He is also one of the former top 10 designers at Nike.

Born in North Carolina and raised in Virginia, Donwan grew up in a lower income family where his dad worked as a naval ship repairman and his mom, a seamstress. At an early age, Donwan developed a deep passion for sketching and sewing. He often helped his mother sew her own designs that she sold at local flea markets and would sketch his surroundings to pass the time. His mother saw prodigy-like talent in his sketching, and began entering him into art competitions to foster his talent. Along with sketching, he also began to design and sew his own clothing, selling it to his fellow students and friends.

The summer after eighth grade before he began high school, Donwan began taking pre-collegiate art and drawing classes at RISD before attending Virginia Common Wealth University on a partial scholarship. After graduating he entered the prestigious Chambre Syndicale international fashion design competition sponsored by Air France, winning two years in a row.