From Indrajeet in 2009 to Luke in 2024 and Khelrin in 2025. Three different moments, three different professional paths, but with the same goal: gaining a deep understanding of product, materials, and constructions through a hands-on experience inside our workshop classrooms.
Over the years, Arsutoria School has trained several professionals from PUMA, including most recently Khelrin Kenia, currently Director Global Strategy & Projects at Puma Group Sourcing, who attended the Shoe Making – Sneaker Course training program from November to December 2025. Sixteen years earlier, her manager, Indrajeet “Indy” Sen (now SVP PUMA Group Sourcing), had attended one of the school’s technical programs.
For Indy, the experience at Arsutoria School represented a key step in his professional journey. Indy himself suggested that Khelrin attend the sneaker prototyping course to strengthen and complete her technical background.
What value can technical education bring to professionals working in strategic and managerial roles within the footwear industry? We asked Indy, Luke and Khelrin to share their experiences.
Let’s start with Indy’s perspective:
INDRAJEET “INDY” SEN (2009)
“My journey started at Deichmann, where I worked for nearly ten years. It was during my time as Global Quality Manager, in 2009, that I attended the course at Arsutoria. In 2016, I joined PUMA, taking on several sourcing leadership roles, eventually reaching my current position as Senior Vice President for PUMA Group Sourcing.”
The importance of a technical foundation
“Taking the course while working as a Quality Manager was transformative. Quality is not just about inspection, but about understanding the cause and effect behind shoe construction. Arsutoria gave me practical and fundamental knowledge of why a shoe is built in a certain way.
It completely changed my approach, shifting me from evaluating problems to preventing them. That strong technical foundation has been invaluable throughout my career, especially as I moved into broader sourcing leadership roles, where it is essential to connect product intent with manufacturing reality.”
What led you to choose this technical course for KK?
“You can learn many operational tasks on the job, but it is difficult to build a complete and systematic understanding that way. I personally attended the course when I needed to deepen my technical foundation related to quality, and I knew Khelrin needed the same thing for her path toward product creation.
Her strength lies in strategic sourcing and project management: the ‘what,’ the ‘where,’ and the ‘when.’ This course was the fastest and most effective way to give her the ‘how’ and the ‘why’ as well. It bridges strategy and execution.
Having experienced it myself, I knew it would give her confidence and tangible product knowledge, allowing her to speak the language of product fluently with our technical partners and become an even stronger connector within our organization.”
LUKE MCDONNELL (2024)
“I entered the footwear industry in 2018 with PUMA – who I am still with today. I began my career in a strategy role, a unique position that enabled me to very quickly gain a 360 degree exposure to the workings of one of the largest sports brands in the world. Valuable experience and knowledge was gained by being involved in development, costing, planning, materials, tooling, quality and production topics. From this role – with many intense self development courses, mentors and learnings – I transitioned into a development role. Currently I am still in development, and now oversee our fantastic Regional Creation Centres (our SMU business) development teams based in China, Vietnam and Boston.”
Growing professionally by understanding the heart of the product
“Since PUMA has a few graduates of Arsutoria already – the decision to attend the Sneaker Pattern Making and Prototyping course in Milan was straightforward. Taking on a new development role also meant that this course was especially suited to upskilling my current knowledge. Attending the course in Arsutoria definitely played a part in my career development and I will always look back with pride on my time with Arsutoria!”
The competencies acquired
“Far too many to mention! One I would mention is my current attention to detail has become laser focused through the 4 weeks with Arsutoria. An incorrect pullover meant going back to your pattern and figuring out exactly where you went wrong. Arsutoria also teaches you to truly consider the production elements of footwear – a good looking sample is worthless if we cannot mass produce it for our customers.”
KHELRIN KENIA (2025)
“I have always worked on the operational and strategic side of sourcing. I started at PUMA in Hong Kong within the business solutions area, then moved into sourcing operations in Vietnam. Later, I joined Adidas, where I managed material portfolios and costing. Today, I work on global sourcing strategy and projects.
My background has always revolved around numbers, processes, and projects, with the goal of ensuring that the right product is made in the right place, at the right time, and at the right cost.”
Growing professionally by understanding the heart of the product
“I would like to move closer to the heart of the product by taking on a Product Development role. Even if the transition does not happen immediately, understanding how a product is created is essential for anyone working in sourcing.
My manager, Indy, who attended the full Arsutoria course years ago, knows the value of this experience firsthand. We decided that this course would be the fastest and most effective way to connect my sourcing background with the technical ‘how-it’s-made’ knowledge I was missing. It was the most obvious gap to fill.”
The competencies acquired
“The most valuable part was finally connecting all the dots. I joined the course with limited technical knowledge related to shoe construction. Today, I can truly visualize how a shoe takes shape from the ground up.
The course allows you to understand — by actually doing it — how cutting, preparation, stitching, lasting, soling, and finishing are carried out while working directly with lasts, patterns, and machinery. Experiencing the process firsthand completely changes your perspective. You stop looking only at numbers and technical sheets, and you begin to truly understand the heart of the product. That was the foundation I was missing.”
Shoe Making Intensive Course
The Sneaker Making module is part of the Shoe Making course, which starting in 2027 will last 5 weeks.
After an online preparatory phase dedicated to the fundamentals of footwear, students work directly with materials, lasts, constructions, and machinery, developing different sneaker models through a hands-on approach inside the school’s sample room.
The experiences of Indy, Luke and Khelrin show that technical education is not only valuable for pattern makers or developers. Whether working in sourcing, strategy, quality or product development, understanding how a shoe is actually built creates a stronger connection between product, manufacturing and business decisions.