Speakers’ Corner gives you a preview of the voices you’ll hear at upcoming PI events, straight from the people shaping fashion and footwear.
In this edition, Stefan Rohner, Head of E-Commerce & Digital at GNL Footwear, makes the case for integration over individual tools. From why the real promise of 3D lies in what happens after the physical shoe exists, to why modernising your pipeline works better as a focused progression than a giant transformation project.
What excites you most about the intersection of craft and technology right now?
What excites me most right now is the potential of 3D footwear production and the possibilities it unlocks. When products are created fully in digital environments first, it changes how teams prototype, test, and iterate. Over time this also opens the door for digital twins of products that can live beyond the physical shoe - for example in virtual environments or immersive commerce spaces. That long-term bridge between physical product and digital presence is extremely interesting to me.
What innovation do you think will define the next five years of footwear?
I believe the innovation that will define the next five years of footwear is the convergence of 3D product creation, AI-supported development, and connected product data across the entire pipeline. Not as isolated tools, but as an integrated system that improves speed, accuracy, and decision-making from concept to manufacturing and ultimately to the consumer.
What does great collaboration between design, development, and manufacturing look like to you?
Great collaboration looks much less like handovers and much more like a connected conversation. The best setups are transparent, fast, and iterative. Everyone understands the product goal, constraints are surfaced early, and feedback loops are short enough to actually improve the result instead of slowing it down.
What’s one lesson you wish you’d learned earlier in your career?
Strong ideas alone are not enough. You also need timing, alignment, and the ability to bring people with you. In many companies, the quality of execution depends just as much on communication and structure as it does on creativity or vision.
Do you think AI will replace or empower footwear designers?
I do not think AI will replace footwear designers. I think it will empower the strong ones and expose the weak ones. Designers who already have taste, product understanding, and strategic thinking will use AI to move faster and explore more. But AI does not replace judgment, brand sensitivity, or human intuition.
Is the future of product creation more human-led or data-driven?
It'll be both human-led and data-driven, but the human side must stay in charge. Data can improve precision and reduce waste, but products that resonate still come from people who understand emotion, context, culture, and use. The danger is when teams confuse measurable input with actual relevance.
What’s the best example you’ve seen of digital tools actually improving creativity, not killing it?
A strong example of digital tools actually improving creativity is the way platforms like Fibbl allow brands to extend 3D assets beyond development into commerce, storytelling, and customer interaction. Tools like Flora and Kyve also show how digital systems can support faster exploration, better asset access, and more fluid creative workflows instead of limiting them. When used well, these tools remove friction around creativity rather than replacing it.
What’s one piece of advice you’d give to a brand trying to modernize its development pipeline?
My advice is simple: start small and optimise on the go. Do not try to rebuild everything at once. Pick one workflow, one bottleneck, or one use case where the value is visible, learn from it, and scale from there. Modernization works far better as a focused progression than as a giant transformation project.
Finish this sentence: In 2026, great footwear design will be…
...the result of strong ideas supported by intelligent digital workflows. The brands that succeed will connect design, data, and manufacturing into one continuous system - where creativity moves faster because the tools around it remove friction.
Stefan will be joining us at Stride Europe, taking place 28-29th April in Venice, where he'll be leading two interactive roundtables — 'Does Digital Actually Improve the Way Customers Buy Shoes?' and 'From Digital Assets to Digital Trust'.
