Industry Leaders Launch Footwear Innovation Foundation
Vicki M. Young
5 min read
Footwear industry executives and CEOs see necessity in becoming more proactive than reactive.
Veterans in the sector have formed a research think tank, Footwear Innovation Foundation (FIF), to focus on how to best shape and transform the future of footwear in the face of ongoing challenges.
FIF, launched Monday, is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that has its home base in Reston, Va. It operates separately from the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America (FDRA). Andy Polk, FDRA’a senior vice president, will manage FIF’s day-to-day operations.
The FDRA will continue to work on projects such as its supply chain tracing tool launched last October, since that’s driven by current regulations, according to Polk.
“The FIF really works in white spaces looking to solve beyond current work efforts, seeing where we can fill gaps where there is no little or no data and knowledge, as well as how we establish talent pathways from outside the industry inward,” Polk said in an email to FN.
The FDRA will continue to focus on issues facing the footwear industry today, such as customs, tariffs, sourcing, supply chain, regulatory matters, to name a few. The FIF is a platform dedicated to shaping the future, Polk said, adding, “We initially tried to build that within FDRA, but its mission and tax status limited our ability to pursue real R&D (research and development) and long-range innovation work.” FDRA is a 501(c)(6) organization. Donations to fund the FIF’s research work are 100 percent tax free.
“The FIF board meets at least twice a year to guide our direction, evaluate new ideas, and ensure our projects serve the industry as a whole,” he said. “Much of our day-to-day job is meeting with academics, labs, experts and industry leaders to talk about the future, provide key innovation insights to support people’s operations, and running dynamic forward thinking projects to push us forward.”
Polk said that while FIF is autonomous, it remains connected with the FDRA, which funded start-up costs and legal fees until shoe companies began their donations. “We rely on FDRA for market intelligence and strategic insights to make sure we have a good pulse on where things are headed. We also use FDRA’s reach to help build a broader community around innovation,” he said.
Without providing specifics, Polk said one project underway is an exploration of new technologies to help expand domestic manufacturing. “We tapped into FDRA’s membership to reach out to get key insights into what technology was being used to compare with what new technologies we are seeing in other industries that we could adapt and deploy. That is how 1 + 1 becomes 3,” he said, adding that many academics and groups don’t understand footwear and spend years working to provide solutions where they have major knowledge gaps.
“We don’t have that problem. We have all the internal knowledge we need to make sure when we go out to find new ideas, people and technologies [that] we know how [to] best feed back into our [footwear] companies,” Polk explained.
So, why is now the right timing for a research think tank?
“In our industry, we spend so much time putting out fires that we rarely get the chance to ask the bigger questions about the future,” Andy Gilbert, former president of Genesco Brands Group and now FIF chairman, said in a statement. “While tariffs are rightly the full focus of today’s discussions, they won’t be the last challenge we all face. We need to stop playing defense and start going on offense to prepare for the additional complex issues ahead.”
For Gilbert, the FIF is the go-to place where the footwear industry can seek guidance in planning for the future. “It’s quickly becoming a hub for innovation, with companies and global partners already coming together to help push our industry forward,” he said.
While the FIF has been working behind the scenes to set up the organization, it has also help fund some projects, such as one on shoe waste with Fashion for Good, according to Polk. Other projects in progress include helping companies comply with U.S. and European Union sustainability regulations, the development of an emissions study to provide updated, real carbon data benchmarks for footwear, and a program aimed at identifying new talent and ideas outside of the footwear industry to transform existing products and business models.
Companies that are helping set up and/or financially supporting the foundation include Rack Room Shoes, Steve Madden, Shoe Show Inc., Deckers Brands, Skechers, Caleres, Target, BBC International, Michael Kors, Oka Brands, RG Barry, PLC Detroit, FDRA, Jones & Vining, Insite Performance Insoles, and Souls4Soles, among dozens of others, FIF said.
In addition to Polk and Gilbert, FIF board members include Brooke Beshai, vice president, sustainability and compliance, Deckers Brands; Andee Burton, direct, product and sourcing sustainability, Caleres; D’Wayne Edwards, president of PLC Detroit; Sara Irvani, board director at Oka Brands, Matt Priest, president and CEO of FDRA, and Jung Yoon, senior vice president, production and sourcing, Michael Kors. The FIF website also lists a 14-member innovation advisory council to provide guidance on which projects to support and launch.
“If we want to change the future of footwear, we must change who gets to shape it. FIF will help bring new voices, entrepreneurs and thinkers to the table—not just from our industry, but beyond. It is the next step the industry is taking to a better future,” FIF board member Edwards said.
“Our industry is facing a convergence of challenges—supply chains, sustainability goals, and compliance demands are all intersecting in unprecedented ways. That includes the need for new models and process innovation to expand domestic footwear manufacturing,” Irvani, an FIF board member, said. “The Footwear Innovation Foundation is stepping up to ask the tough questions, bring in fresh perspectives, and help us innovate through—not just around—what’s ahead. I’m energized by what we’re building as a true hub for progress and collaboration across the industry.”
