The Global Footwear Awards is open to outstanding entries from all over the world. We will reward the world’s most exceptional designs with the highest recognition in the industry.

GIVE YOUR DESIGN THE RECOGNITION IT DESERVES

The award offers global visibility to designers, providing greater opportunities in the footwear business and beyond. The GFA also provides an international platform, generating a network of leading professionals in support of moving the industry forward. Furthermore, GFA honors strategic thinking and innovative solutions to sustainability and social impact, from design to manufacturing and beyond.

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WHY WE ARE DIFFERENT?

The Global Footwear Awards acknowledge the best footwear designers from all over the world with international recognition. The GFA Jury Panel consists of leading professionals across the globe, coming from different disciplines within the footwear industry, including major publications, retailers, institutions, and influencers.
GFA offers recognition in all categories, from Fashion to Sports, and at every stage of development, from design to manufacturing and technology. Moreover, GFA evaluates entries in 3 different levels: brands, independent entries, and students, to provide a fair opportunity to each level.

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WHY SHOULD YOU SUBMIT YOUR DESIGN?

The Global Footwear Awards is open to outstanding entries from all over the world, with many sub-categories, from sports, to fashion, to sustainability. We will reward the world’s most exceptional designs and promote them to the global footwear community. This award is a powerful cross-disciplinary platform from which to promote your designs to an international market. Lastly, we have created special awards to promote aspiring female footwear designers at student and independent levels.

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BRAND DIFFERENTIATION

Becoming a Global Footwear Awards winner will set you apart from the competition. Whether it’s your product design credential or a sustainable concept, by carefully selecting the category you enter, you can create a niche to make you stand out from your competitors. The Global Footwear Awards is an independent endorsement and an outstanding indicator of success.

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MARKETING OPPORTUNITIES

Winning participants will be offered unique press and PR exposure to the footwear industry while expanding their network with leading professionals globally throughout the competition. Being associated with business awards provides excellent PR opportunities before, during, and after the competition. Global Footwear Awards winners will improve brand awareness and support the promotion of your business to new design professionals and potential clients worldwide. The team has strong network which leading professionals will maximize your company’s PR exposure.

After winning, make sure to update your marketing materials with the GFA logo, including your business cards, website, literature, email, and sales material. It’s important to make sure that people know what your business has achieved.

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INCREASE CREDIBILITY

The GFA prize or Honorable Mention acts as a 3rd-party endorsement for your business. Our winning badge is a sign of quality for potential customers and can be a part of your sales strategy. It’s a great way of differentiating your company from competitors.

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BOOSTING MORALE

Winning a prize or receiving the GFA Honorable Mention is a very public way of recognizing the hard work and achievements of your staff. Awards should be celebrated as a team to boost morale.

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ATTRACTING TALENTS AND INVESTORS

Being recognized as a GFA Winner will benefit your brand by attracting new talent and potential investors. Winning participants at the students’ level will also be rewarded with mentorship opportunities with leading footwear professionals.

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EACH WINNER WILL RECEIVE THE FOLLOWING

• Winner’s Seal to promote your Award online and in print.
• Winner’s Certificate
• A permanent online profile on the winners’ page

GFA’s ‘Three industry approach’ provides a unique and exclusive platform for peer-to-peer introductions across the interrelating industry sectors. New designers are introduced to leading talent within the footwear industry. Each project entry is anonymously reviewed by the jury panel comprised of leading industry talents providing amazing exposure for your design.  Entries are assessed independently on their merit and not competing against other entries.

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MASTERCLASS FOR THE “EMERGING DESIGNER OF THE YEAR”

Renowned sneaker industry figure Sean Williams, co-founder of the SOLEcial Studies in New York Cities, will provide an exclusive Masterclass centered around the theme of “Culture – Impact and Purpose”. Offering two comprehensive courses aimed at expanding the perspective of FIT Awards emerging winners in design. The focus extends beyond individual design considerations to encompass the broader impact that design can have on the world, encompassing aspects such as usage, evolution, and sustainability. After the Masterclass, there will be a “Creative Council” session to review the portfolios of young talents, discuss their design goals, and guide them in their next career steps.

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MENTORSHIP PROGRAM FOR THE “EMERGING DESIGNER OF THE YEAR”

The Global Footwear Awards (GFA) has partnered with INDIPROC to empower and support independent and student footwear designers, providing them with invaluable resources and opportunities to advance their careers.

INDIPROC is an international incubator for footwear projects, founded by María del Carmen Maestre. As she explains, “INDIPROC was born out of the need to create a suitable business ecosystem to support and give support to emerging brands that are starting out in the market.” The goal is to create a product that highlights the talent of the designer with the quality of a product Made in Spain.

As part of this partnership, the winner of the Global Footwear Awards in the independent designer category will receive a comprehensive mentorship program valued at €1495, offering them personalized guidance and support. Additionally, finalists and the student designer winner will benefit from a one-hour consultancy session with the INDIPROC team, advising them on the next steps in the footwear industry and a 50% discount on online education valued at €395.

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JOIN THE RED BOOTS AWARDS

A selection of winners of the Global Footwear Awards will be invited to submit their designs to our partner program in China “Red Boots Awards”.

The “Red Boots Design” advocates product innovation driven by design creativity, highlighting the commercialization and marketization of design achievements; introducing the local footwear industry in Wenzhou, igniting cooperation between designers, design colleges, and enterprises, and leading the design trend vane of China’s footwear industry.

In December 2022, the China Leather Association and Wenzhou Municipal People’s Government will invite experts and scholars, industry leaders, entrepreneurs, and fashion buyers from developed countries such as Europe, the United States, Japan, South Korea, and Vietnam to explore the new ecology of fashion trends in China’s footwear industry, draw a new blueprint for the development of China’s footwear industry, and promote the transformation and upgrading of China’s footwear industry.

The organizers of “Red Boots Design” not only provide generous bonuses to encourage the designers but also release a series of supporting and recruiting policies to attract outstanding designers to launch their careers in Wenzhou. Also, after the competition, the organizers will collaborate with partners from the academic and industrial circle to provide resources for winners, and help them implement their programs, as well as produce, promote and sell their products, thus gathering domestic and international resources for footwear design, building a hundred billion footwear industry cluster, and establishing an open, prosperous, and vigorous ecological chain for the global footwear industry.

The Global Footwear Awards winners will be invited to join the “Red Boot Awards” to submit their designs which will be reviewed by industry experts made of Chinese and International Jury members to win a trip to Wenzhou, China; meet local manufacturers, receive concept counseling and potentially start producing their awarded Footwear Design.

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HOW TO PROMOTE YOUR AWARD-WINNING COMPANY?

We know that social proof is one of the most influential factors in consumers’ decision-making. Consumer and Professional (third party) reviews are nearly 12 times more trusted than internal descriptions; the Global Footwear Design Awards is the ultimate review and testimonial.

• Print your certificate and winner badge, add them to your website, and share them with your community on social media, website, and direct marketing.
• Add the Winner badge on your establishment/ company communication collaterals and brochures. This is a fantastic marketing opportunity.
• Issue a Press Release and send it to your local media and/ or communication agency.
• Add your winner badge to your email signature: Your email signature is seen daily by scores of people who may not know about your award. Just add a statement that says “winner of the (year) (award name)” so that every outgoing email is also a testament to your achievement.
• Involve your team: your sales & marketing team should celebrate the achievement to boost their morale and communicate the win to all their contacts/clients.
• Consider an advertisement. It’s common for companies to take out an advertisement after they’ve won an award to call attention to their achievement, or possibly to congratulate fellow winners.
• Add “award-winning” to all your company descriptions. After you win an award, from that day on you have the right to call yourselves an “award-winning” company. An industry-recognized award serves as an independent endorsement of your company’s quality. Winning the Global Footwear Design Awards is a great competitive advantage and more importantly, it’s an evaluation that will bolster potential customers’ trust when coupled with your internal marketing material.