Why enter?

 

Industry recognition Winning or even being shortlisted for a Drapers Footwear Award positions your brand as a leader in the industry, earning recognition from peers, competitors and customers alike. It is a powerful endorsement of your hard work, creativity and success.

Benchmarking and improvement The awards process allows you to evaluate your business alongside the best in the industry. It offers insights into how your brand compares with others and identifies areas for improvement, helping you stay competitive in a rapidly evolving market.

Connections The awards ceremony itself brings together key players across the footwear industry, offering unparalleled networking opportunities. Engaging with other industry leaders can lead to new partnerships, collaborations and insights that drive future growth.

Employee morale and motivation Winning or being recognised in these awards is a huge morale booster for your team. It acknowledges their hard work and dedication, inspiring them to continue to push boundaries and strive for excellence.

Entering Drapers Footwear Awards is more than just chasing a trophy – it is about taking your place among the elite in the industry, gaining recognition and opening new doors for growth and success.

Enter now

It's amazing. We have been going for nearly seven years now, so it's nice to get recognition – especially for social, which is an integral part of our brand
Envy Shoes , Best Use of Social Media

To be part of the footwear industry at the moment is incredible – it's on such a change. People are going into footwear industry because there is a lot of purpose – that's what Schuh does really well in disability and equality.
Kyle Evans , Schuh, Store Staff Member of the Year

I think this award gives the team a boost – it's really energising. We are a close team but this seals the deal.
Dr Martens Product Development Team , Team of the Year

This award is a validation of the fact that we are passionate about kids' education and about doing the right thing: to stop shoes ending up in landfill.
Pip & Henry , Kids' Footwear Brand of the Year

This award is going to give a lot of visibility to the brand we have made – a lot of changes to the direction that we are going.
Marks & Spencer , Men's Footwear Brand of the Year

I'm really humbled, I think it's wonderful for the company and for the team
Lifetime Achievement Award winner and chief executive officer of Kurt Geiger, Neil Clifford

For us, for Schuh its really important to get across our purpose, we use our platform to do more good so we really want to get across its not just about the product, its about the people as well
Best Footwear Marketing Campaign winner, Schuh

Entry process

 

Entry guidelines

Who can enter

  • Entries must relate to activity that has taken place between 25 February 2025 and 6 February 2026

How to enter?

  • Read the entry criteria below
  • Register your details online. You will receive an email. Click on the link to validate your account or add the validation code. You will need to do this before you can complete your entries.
  • Submit your entry via the online entry form.
  • Log in at any time to finish your entry. If you forget your password, please use the reset password link on the login page


Winning entries

Publication

Winners will be published in the August 2026 issue of Drapers and displayed on the website.

Awards ceremony

Drapers Footwear Awards ceremony will be held in London on the evening of 1 July at Grosvenor House London. Everyone who enters is welcome to join us at the awards ceremony. Please note this is a paid-for event.

How much does it cost to enter?

FREE

Key Dates

Entry deadline

6 February 2026

Judging

2 April 2026

Shortlist notified

20 March 2026

Winners announced

1 July 2026

Entry process FAQS

 

How can I view the criteria before entering?

To view the criteria, create your account or log in with your email and password used to create your account if you have already done so. Select “Enter now” against the category you wish to view where the criteria will be displayed. If you wish to start your entry at this point, any information you add will be autosaved and you can log in to complete the rest of the entry at any time.

How do I log back in to work on my un-submitted entry?

Enter the email address and password that you used when you first started your entry on the log-in page. You will then be taken through to your dashboard and will be able to continue your entry.

How do I enter more than one category?

You can enter another category by selecting the category you wish to enter from the “Categories” section.

I am still having trouble entering

Please contact Jess Faulkner on +44 (0)20 3953 2906 or email jess.faulkner@emap.com and she will be happy to help you with your entry.


Categories 

This category is open to all footwear retailers, brands and pureplay etailers operating in the UK and/or Irish markets. Judges will be looking for a campaign that has made a quantifiable impact by driving sales, brand awareness and messaging, regardless of the size of the budget.

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Criteria against which you will be judged:

  • Sales results from the campaign
  • How the campaign achieved its objectives
  • How activity was integrated across all channels
  • Relevance to target audience

Qualifying period:

25 February 2025-6 February 2026

This category is open to wholesale and direct-to-consumer footwear brands trading in the UK and/or Ireland for between one and three years at 6 February 2025.

The judges will be looking for a strong business plan, a unique selling proposition and robust financial performance. Website design, UX (user experience), product offer, customer service, marketing initiatives, stockists (if relevant) and customer engagement will all be taken into account.
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Criteria against which you will be judged:

  • USP – what makes this brand stand out? Is it filling a gap in the market?
  • User experience and understanding of customer data
  • Evidence of multichannel integration
  • Strength of customer service with clear delivery and returns processes
  • Strong, results-driven marketing, social media and content plans
  • Sales figures for the most recent financial year
  • Number of employees and how this has grown
  • List of stockists (if relevant)
  • Plans for future growth

Qualifying period:

25 February 2025-6 February 2026

This category is open to any multichannel or pureplay footwear retailer or brand that operates in the UK and/or Irish markets. This award recognises the strategies that fuel online growth and demonstrate strength of the supply chain. Judges will be looking for an operator that can prove it is leading in the online space and explain how digital is transforming the business.
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Criteria against which you will be judged:

  • Technological innovations and any new digital initiatives made in the qualifying period
  • Strength of customer service with clear delivery and returns processes
  • Strong, results-driven marketing, social media and content plans
  • Great user experience and engagement
  • Online sales figures and traffic numbers with year-on-year comparisons

Qualifying period:

25 February 2025-6 February 2026

This category is open to all footwear retailers, pureplays and brands operating in the UK and/or Ireland. Judges will be looking for a company that can demonstrate a strong understanding of social media either through an ongoing campaign or programme, or one-off activity. Whether through Facebook, X, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok or any other social media platform, the business should show how the channel has been harnessed to drive sales, brand awareness and messaging during the past year.
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Criteria against which you will be judged:

  • How the activity achieved its objectives
  • Sales, traffic and brand awareness results from the activity
  • Relevance to target audience
  • Quantifiable evidence on how social media activity has driven results and sales

Qualifying period:

25 February 2025-6 February 2026

This category is open to footwear designers operating in the UK and/or Irish markets. The designer can be part of a design team within a brand or multiple, or an independent footwear designer. Entrants will be required to send in three product designs.
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Criteria against which you will be judged:

  • Evidence of stand-out footwear design
  • Strong on-trend design ideas
  • Clear commercial understanding of the product and process
  • Comprehensive market knowledge
  • Clear understanding of the customer
  • Proven technical skill
  • Passion for the role, the business and the industry
  • How the individual has made an impact on the business
  • Information on career background, including any training, places of study and dates of graduation
  • Information on the factors that drive the designer’s inspiration

Qualifying period:

25 February 2025-6 February 2026

This award recognises a business that manufactures footwear either for its own brand, or for retailers and brands operating in the UK and/or Irish markets.

The award will go to a company that demonstrates reliable delivery of orders, a good working relationship with its retail partners, a safe working environment and standards, great-quality products and outstanding customer service.

Successful entries will include the number of people on the workforce and how they are being supported, factory locations, details of materials used within production and how the business is reducing its environmental impact. Please also list retail partners.
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Criteria against which you will be judged:

  • How have you improved working conditions for your teams?
  • How have you embedded sustainability principles within your production process?
  • What makes your business stand out?
  • Evidence of quality and longevity of your product

Qualifying period:

25 February 2025-6 February 2026

This award is for footwear specialists only: independent retailers operating in the UK and/or Irish markets with fewer than 12 stores and/or concessions. The winner of this award will have shown resilience and agility during current challenging economic conditions, while working with and supporting its suppliers, partners and local community.
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Criteria against which you will be judged:

  • What makes your independent business stand out?
  • Evidence of a strong business strategy and plan for growth
  • Customer experience and clear understanding of customer profiles
  • Comprehensive buying strategy
  • Proven multichannel integration
  • Stand-out retail store environment
  • Strong, results-driven marketing, social media and content plans
  • Great staff development strategy and place to work

Qualifying period:

25 February 2025-6 February 2026

This award will go to the best wholesale or direct-to-consumer kids’ footwear brand or department operating in the UK and/or Irish markets. The winner will prioritise children’s foot health, and will have shown resilience, agility and innovation in the current challenging economic climate, while working with and supporting its suppliers and partners.
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Criteria against which you will be judged:

  • What makes your kids’ footwear brand stand out among competition?
  • Demonstrate understanding of children’s foot health
  • Evidence of a strong business strategy and plan for growth
  • Demonstrate stand-out products that have performed particularly well
  • Innovative product and a strong brand ethos throughout the business
  • Solid sales performance
  • Strength of customer service
  • Strong results-driven marketing, social media and content plans
  • List of stockists where applicable

Qualifying period:

25 February 2025-6 February 2026

This award will go to the best wholesale or direct-to-consumer men's footwear brand operating in the UK and/or Irish markets. Footwear departments within fashion retailers must include the size the footwear category represents within the business.

The winner will demonstrate a flair for design and understanding of its customers’ needs. Entrants should show resilience and agility within in its operations, and will have supported its suppliers and partners.
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Criteria against which brands will be judged:

  • Evidence of a strong business strategy and plan for growth
  • Demonstrate stand-out products that have performed particularly well
  • Innovative product and a strong brand ethos throughout the business
  • Solid sales performance
  • Strength of customer service
  • Strong results-driven marketing, social media and content plans

Qualifying period:

25 February 2025-6 February 2026

This category is open to forward thinkers who power footwear retailers and brands across the UK and/or Ireland. Judges will be looking for individuals or specific teams who are driving cultural change within their businesses, through strategies that empower teams across head office, stores or supply chain. This could include cultivating a progressive environment that makes your workforce feel welcome and heard, as well as initiatives that have improved the livelihoods of those within the fashion supply chain.

Entries should include strategies and initiatives that demonstrate measurable, tangible results.

Qualifying period:

25 February 2025-6 February 2026
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This category is open to footwear designers currently studying in the UK or Ireland. University lecturers can nominate up to three students, or students can enter themselves. Please submit one project only in a single PDF of up to 10 pages, including supporting imagery.
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Criteria against which you will be judged:

  • Evidence of stand-out footwear design
  • Imagery of final developed product
  • Strong on-trend design ideas
  • Clear commercial understanding of the product and process
  • Comprehensive market knowledge
  • Clear understanding of the customer
  • Proven technical skill
  • Passion for footwear design and the industry

Qualifying period:

25 February 2025-6 February 2026

Store colleagues are the lifeblood of bricks-and-mortar businesses. This award will recognise an outstanding store staff member who makes an impact, and goes above and beyond to help customers, colleagues and the wider business. We want to hear about their achievements and why they should win this award.

Finalists will be asked to submit a video – no longer than two minutes – of the person entering or being nominated. Judges will want to hear about their accomplishments, and see their personality shine through. Please supply a high-resolution headshot of the entrant.
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Criteria against which you will be judged:

  • Clear understanding of the customer
  • Great team player
  • Passion for the role, the business and the industry
  • How the individual has made an impact on the business

Qualifying period:

25 February 2025-6 February 2026

This category is open to footwear teams in fashion retailers, pureplays, footwear specialists, brands and suppliers operating in the UK and/or Irish markets. Judges will be looking for a team that can demonstrate how they have contributed to the overall objectives of the business.

Entrants must outline their exceptional understanding of the market and the customer, explain why the team stands out above the rest, show how it achieved measurable results, and give evidence to support this.

Entrants must describe the size of the team and roles within it, how it engages with the rest of the business and how it innovates to drive the overall business strategy.
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Criteria against which you will be judged:

  • How the team works together successfully
  • How the team achieved and surpassed its objectives
  • How the team drove sales, brand awareness and engagement
  • How the team is innovating
  • Evidence of the sales uplifts from the team activity (if relevant)
  • Achievements of the team in the qualifying period

Qualifying period:

25 February 2025-6 February 2026

This award will go to the best wholesale or direct-to-consumer women's footwear brand operating in the UK and/or Irish market today. Footwear departments within fashion retailers must include the size the footwear category represents within the overall business.

The winner will demonstrate creativity, a flair for design, and will have shown resilience and agility in current challenging economic conditions, while working with and supporting its suppliers and partners.
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Criteria against which brands will be judged:

  • Evidence of a strong business strategy and plan for growth in the coming year
  • Demonstrate stand-out products that have performed particularly well
  • Innovative product and a strong brand ethos throughout the business
  • Solid sales performance
  • Strength of customer service
  • Strong results-driven marketing, social media and content plans
  • List of stockists where applicable

Qualifying period:

25 February 2025-6 February 2026

Open to footwear buyers working for a retailer, brand or pureplay operating in the UK and/or Irish markets. Please demonstrate successful strategies, their impact on the business and sales of product. Please supply a high-resolution headshot of the entrant.
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 Criteria against which you will be judged:

  • Tangible evidence of a strong buying strategy and plan for growth
  • Talent for spotting new brands and taking calculated risks
  • Clear understanding of the customer
  • Comprehensive market knowledge
  • Innovative personality that does not follow the crowd
  • Proven buying success resulting in increased sales
  • Great team player and staff developer
  • Passion for the role, the business and the industry
  • How the individual has made an impact on the business

 

Qualifying period:

25 February 2025-6 February 2026

Sustainability is a business necessity, and this award will go to a UK or Irish footwear brand, retailer, etailer or supplier that has improved its environmental impact, conditions in its supply chain or launched an impressively conscious product – with sustainable production methods or components – during the year. Circularity initiatives, including rental, resale and recycling initiatives are also welcome.
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Criteria against which you will be judged:

  • The difference made to the business and its operations
  • How the initiative was implemented
  • How the activity or product achieved its objectives
  • Relevance to target audience

Qualifying period:

25 February 2025-6 February 2026

Non-enterable Categories 

Judged by a consumer poll. To be announced on the night
This item is not available

Nominated by the Drapers team. To be announced on the night
This item is not available