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FDRA

@fdra1944

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Oldest, largest & most effective Footwear Trade Association in the USA 🇺🇸 Advocating for members, sharing industry data, trends, educating & more!

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🗣3 Reason your company should join FDRA:

1. We provide exclusive shoe data, analysis, and insights that help you better understand the footwear industry, helping you better support your clients needs.

2. We bring the footwear industry together — from digital calls to in-person events to help you connect and grow your business.

3. We support our members throughout their entire business, from making shoes (design, development, and production) to importing shoes (customs rulings, classifications, and lowering duty costs) to selling shoes (retail data and analysis, and consumer trends).

Visit our website to learn more about FDRA Membership today! by @fdra1944

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2 years ago

Everyone has ideas. Not everyone knows how to turn them into reality.

So how did we choose this year’s @footwearlaunchpad Elite 8?

It’s not about having the flashiest concept. It’s about understanding the problem deeply, identifying the real opportunity, and showing the potential to create meaningful change.

In this episode of #ShoeInShow, Andy Polk, Alan Lugo, Michael Seeley, and Christie Horan share what our team looks for when reviewing Footwear LaunchPad applications—and why clarity, curiosity, and coachability matter just as much as the idea itself.

🎧 Watch the full conversation and get an inside look at how the Elite 8 were selected.

#FootwearLaunchPad #FootwearInnovationFoundation by @fdra1944

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8 days ago

In the latest #ShoeInShow, FDRA’s trade team breaks down what that means for footwear — and why Vietnam may end up landing at the same tariff rate as China.

There are a lot of falling knives right now. This is how you catch them.

🎧 Full episode link in bio.

#FDRA #Tariffs #TradePolicy by @fdra1944

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14 days ago

👓 Nearly 6% productivity gains. $10 per person. ROI in under a year.

ICYMI: Andy Polk sat down with Ramona Bajema of #VisionSpring and the numbers are hard to ignore.

The Clear Vision Workplace program sends trained optometrists directly to your factory, screens 100% of your workforce, and delivers measurable results almost immediately.

In manufacturing, brands fight for even half a percent of productivity improvement. @visionspringorg is delivering nearly 6%.

This is one of the easiest wins in footwear sustainability — and most brands don’t even know it exists yet.

🎧 Full episode link in bio.

#ShoeInShow by @fdra1944

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18 days ago

Rooted in Community!

Day 1 under way!

📸 - @bwillvisuals by @fdra1944

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18 days ago

“Where has this been my whole life?”

That’s what sneaker lovers say when they discover @sneakkyklean — and Devonn Vidal heard it enough times to know he was onto something big.

Too busy to clean your sneakers? Too hot to go outside? Too cold to leave the house? Sneakky Klean now offers free pickup and delivery anywhere in the five boroughs — Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Long Island.

Your sneakers get restored. You don’t have to move. 👟

🎧 Full episode link in bio.

#ShoeInShow #SneakkyKlean #DevonnVidal #SneakerCare #SneakerCleaning by @fdra1944

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a month ago

From swap meets in downtown LA to leading one of footwear’s most innovative companies. 👟

Three things we learned from @jennetchow and Michael Chen of @evolutiondesignlab on #ShoeInShow:

1️⃣ Start where you are. Jennet’s footwear journey began at four years old riding in the back of her parents’ trucks at swap meets.

2️⃣ Build what the industry needs. EDL created its own proprietary software to manage the entire shoe manufacturing supply chain.

3️⃣ Culture is a competitive advantage. 80% of EDL’s employees are women. That’s not an accident — it’s a strategy.

🎧 Full episode link in bio.

#JennetChow #MichaelChen #EvolutionDesignLab by @fdra1944

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a month ago

“I would sit in the back of the trucks with an ice cooler going from swap meet to swap meet.”

@jennetchow didn’t grow up dreaming of the footwear industry. She grew up living it, tagging along with her parents at swap meets in downtown LA at four years old.

Today she’s Co-CEO of @evolutiondesignlab. Some of the best origin stories start in the most unexpected places.

🎧 Full episode link in bio.

#ShoeInShow #JennetChow #MikeChen #EvolutionDesignLab by @fdra1944

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a month ago

“I was doing a degree in English literature — so naturally, I joined the footwear industry.”

From management trainee at Clarks in 1984 to building global product ranges and leading at Start-Rite —Jane Wilson’s path in footwear was unconventional, but it turned out to be exactly where she was meant to be.

Some of the best careers in footwear don’t start with a plan. They start with a yes.

🎧 Full episode link in bio.

#ShoeInShow #BritishFootwearAssociation by @fdra1944

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a month ago

500 designs in 50 seconds. Sounds incredible — until you have to choose.

Christopher Padilla, Senior Advisor at Brunswick Group, breaks down the real risks of adopting AI in your business. Using it without precision leads to overwhelm.

Feeding it bad data leads to bad answers. Garbage in, garbage out.

AI is powerful — but only if you know exactly what to ask for and what you’re putting into it.

🎧 Full episode linked in IG stories.

#ShoeInShow #chrispadilla #BrunswickGroup #AI B by @fdra1944

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2 months ago

Here’s another look at last Tuesday night! ✨
Great people, great conversations, and a great evening with the footwear industry at the FFANY Cocktail Party in NYC. View the full event gallery at www.ffany.org by @fdra1944

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2 months ago

Costs are up. Discretionary income is down. And it’s hitting footwear from both ends.

In the latest Shoe-In Show, Bryan Eshelman of AlixPartners breaks down what the data is actually showing heading into back-to-school 2026 — tariffs, inflation, supply chain pressure, and a K-shaped economy that is widening the gap between who is buying and who is pulling back.

The footwear industry is feeling it. And so are consumers.

🎧 Full episode link in bio.

#ShoeInShow #BryanEshelman #AlixPartners #BackToSchool #FootwearIndustry by @fdra1944

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2 months ago