We here at PI Apparel are launching our first-ever footwear-specific event next March in Portland, aptly named Stride 2025. To ensure we deliver an agenda that is topical and valuable, I spoke with designers, product developers and digital champions from 25+ of the world’s leading footwear brands and asked them: ‘what are your main challenges and priorities for the immediate future?’
The overarching themes were revealed pretty quickly: Digital Product Creation (DPC), AI, Maturing Technologies (xR, 3D Printing, 3D Scanning, Virtual Try-on and more) and finally, Local Production & Sustainability.
Missed Part 1 on DPC & Part 2 on AI? Worry not, you can access them here: DPC and AI.
With the Stride 2025 agenda now live, I wanted to share some of these insights with you. In Part 3 of this series I share ‘7 Game-Changing Technologies Revolutionizing Footwear Beyond DPC & AI‘
1. Virtual Reality (VR) Could Revolutionize the Footwear Design Process.
Brands can leverage VR for core product design, virtual prototyping, collaborative design reviews and realistic material simulations without physical samples. This streamlined, interactive approach claims to enhance design precision, shorten development timelines, and allow global teams to work together more seamlessly. But, as with any digital tool, VR adoption demands significant change management; as many designers are deeply rooted in more traditional methods they face a steep learning curve when it comes to these complex, and often cumbersome, interfaces. The shift requires not only the purchasing of new hardware and software licenses, but associated technical training, integration into the existing design workflow, and a robust change strategy as it moves designers even further from their preferred tactile approach. With VR offering clear advantages in precision and collaboration, can brands overcome designers’ attachment to traditional, hands-on methods—and is the investment in change management truly worth the promised gains in efficiency when DPC and AI efforts are arguably more of a priority?
2. Augmented Reality (AR) is Elevating Consumer Engagement with Immersive, Personalized Experiences.
AR is transforming how consumers engage with footwear brands by offering interactive, personalized experiences that bridge the gap between physical and digital shopping. Through AR-powered virtual try-ons, customers can see how shoes look on their feet in real time, either on their devices at home or via in-store activations, providing real-time feedback for designers and confidence in purchases. Additionally, AR could allow for on-the-spot customization, enabling consumers to tailor colors, materials, and styles directly from their devices, creating a more engaging, personalized shopping journey that aligns with individual preferences. But the digital assets required for such activations differ from those currently being created in-house; who should own their creation and is the marketing pay-off worth the extra workload on the back-end?
3. 3D Scanning Brings Material Precision to Digital Footwear Design.
3D scanning is revolutionizing footwear design by allowing highly accurate digital replicas of physical materials and products. This technology enables designers to scan leathers, textiles, and other materials, capturing details like texture, flexibility, and color, which are essential for creating realistic digital prototypes. By integrating these scanned assets into 3D libraries, designers can work more efficiently, reducing the need for physical samples. However, achieving consistent material quality across digital models remains a challenge, as brands work to standardize and centralize material libraries that accurately represent real-world properties. In the future, how will 3D scanning continue to play a key role in bridging physical and digital footwear design, to support product quality and sustainable practices?
4. 3D Printing Speeds up Prototyping & Production.
3D printing and other additive manufacturing methods are increasingly used for producing tooling and components within footwear production, enabling rapid prototyping with reduced material waste. But whilst advanced techniques are cutting costs and production times, they are still not commonplace in the product creation process. As brands explore the limits of these methods, where can 3D Printing best ‘shine’ in the design and production process at scale?
5. Local Production Brings Agility and Sustainability to Footwear Testing & Manufacturing.
The shift toward local production is reshaping footwear design and manufacturing, with brands establishing regional facilities that bring production closer to the design team and to the consumer. By minimizing shipping distances, brands can test component assortments, for both style and function, much more rapidly, whilst also reducing their carbon footprint, all whilst responding to market more quickly. However, replicating traditional large-scale manufacturing locally is not without its challenges; to what extent are these models viable at scale?
6. Innovations in Material Science Drive Newness & Sustainability in Footwear.
Advances in material science are playing a critical role in bringing newness to product offerings and making footwear production more sustainable. Brands are increasingly investing in eco-friendly materials, such as bio-based leathers, recycled plastics, and plant-based fibers, which reduce reliance on traditional, resource-intensive materials. But whilst yes, the growing adoption of these materials is lowering environmental impact and realizing new product designs, how does the existing designer base need to upskill to work with them when they often behave differently in terms of durability, flexibility, and texture, to those they are more accustomed to?
7. The Metaverse & Other Online Activations Open New Revenue Streams & Engage Audiences in New Ways.
Surely the Metaverse is dead and done now, right? Wrong. Whilst yes, the hype has certainly died down and investments have plateaued, brands are continuing to experiment with digital-only products, phygital campaigns, and interactive virtual experiences. Whilst our approach has certainly pivoted, many brands are still seeing success in bringing newness to the market, re-energising their current consumer base and mobilizing a younger, more digital-savvy customer. But whilst this all sounds great, what is the role of the designer in ideating products for such experiences and creating digital assets with such use-cases in mind?
The future of footwear as it relates to these maturing areas is exciting but to adopt these meaningfully and at scale is far from a frictionless process.
In the form of panels, workshops and interactive roundtable discussions, Stride will be the event where these insights come to life, helping to drive the next wave of innovation.
The agenda is now live – access it here!
