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footwear innovation foundation

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footwear innovation foundation

  • Home
  • Competition 
    • Competition
    • FAQ
    • Enter
  • About
  • Board
  • Council
  • Work 
    • Efforts
    • Carbon Report
  • News
  • …  
    • Home
    • Competition 
      • Competition
      • FAQ
      • Enter
    • About
    • Board
    • Council
    • Work 
      • Efforts
      • Carbon Report
    • News
Contact
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  • innovating forward

    Outlined below are our efforts to help companies and consumers. Come back often to keep up with our progress.

  • footwear innovation launchpad competition contest innovation launchpad footwear innovation foundation
  • Establishing and Accelerating Critical Projects

    We collaborate with companies, inventors, factories, and research groups to run and support technical projects—testing and validating concepts that drive industry-wide innovation. These initiatives are highly targeted, focusing on specific tangible outcomes chosen and guided by footwear companies. Current examples include:

    • Regulatory Innovation – Developing new tools and technologies to innovate around upcoming regulations, such as extended producer responsibility (California), new Ecodesign laws (EU), and traceability issues. (Project in progress)
    • Carbon Emissions in Footwear Manufacturing – Researching modern emissions caused by footwear manufacturing in Asian factories, including new data to support future research and ideas for reducing carbon output. Read Report Now
    • Re-Assessing Modern U.S. Footwear Production & Opportunities for Catalyzing Strategic Re-Shoring – Exploring opportunities to expand domestic manufacturing in the U.S., understanding financial models, the labor-to-capital environment, and other factors to help footwear executives evaluate reshoring options. (Project in progress)
    • Manufacturing Innovation – Researching and testing how new machines and technology (including AI) can transform manufacturing processes. (Upcoming project)
    • Trend/Inventory Innovation – Exploring new software and hardware solutions to finish or restyle footwear (e.g., applying color or patterns) in U.S. and European warehouses to meet real-time market trends. (Upcoming project)

    Reach out to us if you are conducting footwear research or development projects and need our support.

  • Producing Forward-Thinking Papers and Research

    • Crafting insightful reports and papers to identify ‘white space’ opportunities — areas of untapped value that remain unrecognized within the industry.
    • Offering innovative ideas and strategic insights to foster growth — enabling broad, exploratory thinking to help shape the industry's forward evolution.
    • Helping increase critical thought in the footwear industry — helping shape the future of research projects.
  • Advising Academics and Researchers to Improve R&D Outcomes

    We provide exclusive knowledge and insights into footwear — both as a product and as part of the larger system — to support and guide researchers as they explore key issues and challenges. We can help you access key insights, data sets, and a deeper understanding of how the industry operates. Additionally, we offer guidance on what R&D projects the industry is seeking.

    Reach out to us if you are conducting footwear research or development projects and need our support.

  • Contact Us

    Companies, academics, and labs – share what you are working on, get assistance or guidance on projects, and learn more about us and our work!

© 2025 Footwear Innovation Foundation. All rights reserved. The Footwear Innovation Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization.

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