Organizers of Sneaker Week 2018, which will take place August 26 – September 1, announced the first-ever Consumer Summit, wherein executives of major footwear brands and organizations will have an open dialog with sneaker “super-consumers” to help shape the future of the brands going forward, according to Sneaker Week director Herbert Beauclere.

“This summit aims to uplift the voices and concerns of both industry leaders and the collective voice of the consumers through a transparent discussion,” Beauclere said. “Brands will get street-level intel from the most passionate users of their product, which will be invaluable to their design, branding and marketing strategies.”

The Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America (FRDA) have assembled brand influencers from PENSOLE Academy, Adidas, Nike, and more, to converse with super-consumers hand-selected by Sneaker Week organizers. President and CEO of FRDA Matt Priest will moderate the panel discussion, which will be broken out by the following topics:

  • Creative Inclusion
  • Empowering Entrepreneurs
  • Consumer-Created Products
  • Creating Cultural Relevance
  • Impact of Diversity

The Consumer Summit was held from 11:00 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday, August 26 at the Jupiter Next Hotel, at 900 E Burnside St.