The time has come to reveal the footwear professionals chosen for this year’s debut BFA Footwear50 in Partnership with Micro-Fresh®. Now’s your chance to download our BFA Footwear50 PDF Guide for 2022 and browse some of the best and brightest in our sector. Each person appears in one of six categories: Retailers, Manufacturers, Design Independents, Brands, Suppliers & Wholesalers and Footwear Supporters.
The BFA Footwear50 kicked off in September 2022 with a sector-wide nominations process allowing Members and non-members of the BFA to highlight their peers and mentors in the trade. We received more than 100 nominations and were then hard pushed to whittle this down to 50 people who represent the most innovative, inspiring and influential members of the footwear industry during the last 12 months.
Once a final list of 50 individuals was agreed upon by the BFA team and our Board of Directors, we reached out to each person and asked them to keep their involvement a secret until a special networking event could be held in London on December 8, 2022. This festive occasion was the perfect opportunity to unveil the BFA Footwear50 2022 and shine a spotlight on all those who made the cut this year.
We were joined on the evening by our Headline Sponsor, Micro-Fresh® and representatives of our Category Sponsors, BFA Partners Modular Commerce, Briffa, Petaurum HR, Fiscal Solutions, Innovation Tax and BFA Member schuh. Their involvement is a testament to the network of connections and relationships that can flourish when BFA Members and Partners come together.
Download the BFA Footwear50 2022 PDF Guide
Now, we are inviting you to discover this year’s Footwear50 by downloading our dedicated PDF Guide. You’ll have the chance to learn more about each individual and their career pathway, as well as their thoughts on what makes the footwear sector so hard to beat.
There’s no single winner here. All 50 people are on the same pedestal for 2022. They’ve each gone above and beyond to bring innovation, ideas and resilience to the footwear sector. And you don’t just have to take our word for it! The BFA Footwear50 nominations process meant we received more than one hundred nominations for various people, hailing from manufacturing departments, design teams and UK-wide retailers. This was a great opportunity to hear from BFA Members and non-members, and it has really highlighted just how many worthy and talented people there are in our trade.
Lucy Reece Raybould, CEO, British Footwear Association
If you would like to talk about the BFA Footwear50 on social media, please use the hashtag #BFAFootwear50. We look forward to championing more professionals in the footwear industry when we launch the BFA Footwear50 2023! We hope that you can get involved by nominating your trade champions, colleagues, peers and mentors who continue to inspire your route in the trade.
About Micro-Fresh®
Micro-Fresh® is an award-winning invisible technology that contains a natural active ingredient that blocks the growth of harmful and odour-causing bacteria to keep products fresher for longer. Micro-Fresh® supports footwear, textile, hospitality, health care, sportswear, and children’s sectors globally. Our Partners include; adidas, John Lewis, Next, M&S, Primark, Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Clarks Australia.