The GFFC was established amongst like-minded individuals to develop opportunities for collaboration and knowledge exchange across sectors, disciplines, and regions.
Darla-Jane Gilroy is a British academic, fashion designer, futurologist, and author. She studied at Central Saint Martins, and on graduation, launched her own label, Darla-Jane Gilroy, selling globally in prestigious stores such as Maxfield, Barnes, Selfridges, Harvey Nichols, Saks Fifth Avenue, Isetan and through her own shops in London and Hong Kong. Her work featured in prominent fashion publications and exhibitions at the V&A and ICA, solidifying her influence on British fashion.
Gilroy has held numerous roles in design education, as a lecturer, external examiner, and course advisor. She led the BA Hons in Footwear and Accessories Design at Cordwainers College and became Head of Fashion at Winchester School of Art before joining the Royal College of Art to lead footwear and accessories. Later she became Programme Director of the Craft Programme at London College of Fashion. Currently, she is the Associate Dean of Knowledge Exchange at Central Saint Martins.
Through her consultancy, The Future Perfect, Gilroy continues to influence the industry forecasting cultural and social trends. She has authored several books on fashion, footwear and accessories including Fashion Bags and Accessories.
GFFC Founder
Liz Ciokajlo is a 3D designer, researcher and lecturer with a background working in product, furniture and fashion accessory design. Her practice and research focuses on footwear materials, making processes, design form and responsible design innovations.
Projects range from consultation (C&J Clarks International, Kings College Research), commissions (MoMA), funded projects (Innovate UK, Arts Council England) and has been employed in research projects (UAL BFTT), many of which are collaborative (inter or multi disciplinary).
Work tours internationally (MoMA – Museum of Modern Art New York Items: Is Fashion Modern?, Venice Triennial Broken Nature, The Design Museum London Moving to Mars, Plant Fever: Phyto-centred Design), has been recognised (shortlisted for Design Museum’s Beazley Design of the Year, nominated for Art Foundation Material Innovation, International Talent Support), co-author chapters (Bloomsbury Academia Crafting Anatomies), and spoken internationally BioFabricate.
When not working in her practice or research, she teaches our next generation of product designers at Central St. Martin’s and Chelsea School of Art, UAL and has course led fashion accessory students at Ravensbourne University London.
GFFC Co-Founder
Dr. Alexandra Sherlock is a Fashion and Textiles Lecturer at RMIT University, Melbourne. With over 15 years’ experience in higher education and research, she’s an internationally recognised leading authority in footwear studies, renowned for her work on footwear, fashion, identity, sustainability, and circularity. In 2020, she founded the Footwear Research Network to advance footwear studies and bridge academia with industry.
As a socio-cultural anthropologist, Alex’s work explores the intricate relationship between footwear and identity. Her research considers how a deeper understanding of the social and cultural significance of footwear or the ‘social lives of shoes’ can inform ethical and sustainable practices, and authentic brand strategies within the footwear industry.
Alex is a member of the Union of Concerned Researchers in Fashion and the Australian Anthropological Society. Her doctoral research, conducted in partnership with Clarks International, will be published as a book by Bloomsbury Academic between late 2025-early 2026.
GFFC Founding Member – Sociocultural Anthropologist: Fashion, Footwear and Identity
Joe Kearins is a Principal at Gate One, the strategy and transformation consultancy of Havas, a global creative and communications group. With over 10 years of experience in the Fashion & Consumer sector, he has led projects in digital strategy, product & experience innovation and sustainable business transformation.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Joe led a team that developed University of the Arts London’s Graduate Showcase platform in response to the loss of physical shows and continues to work extensively with the academic community. He contributed to the industry textbook “Merchandising: Principles & Practice” and has sat on a variety of industry advisory boards.
GFFC Founding Partner
Sarah Byfield-Riches of SBR Partnerships is passionate about connecting industry, the creative sector and education in order to create innovative and exciting partnerships that deliver meaningful outcomes and make a difference.
Having worked in commercial partnerships, fundraising and knowledge exchange for a wide range of arts organisations, creative education institutions and charities, as well as a consultant to several blue-chip companies with sizeable commitments to the creative industries, she views things through a very wide and creative lens.
With extensive experience in fashion at the Royal College of Art and as former Head of Business Development at London College of Fashion, UAL, Sarah is immensely excited to be able to bring her experience and extensive contacts to the Global Footwear Futures Coalition.
GFFC Founding Partner
Sven Segal is an award-winning entrepreneur and a sustainable shoe design pioneer who started developing his first ethically made biodegradable shoe line in 2003 – following an overdose of involuntary glue sniffing and uncovering widespread exploitative and polluting practices at shoe factories he visited.
In pursuit of social and environmental wellbeing, Sven has founded one of the first eco-conscious shoe brands which he ran for 15 years. Thanks to the creation of highly considered products like a glueless shoe construction, an adaptable coconut fibre foot-mattress, a compostable shoebox that doubled up as a seed tray, and edible shoe cream, Sven’s work attracted some iconic brands over the years which resulted in co-branded collaborations; in 2010 he developed two circular shoe collections for Timberland which were designed for disassembly with a takeback scheme. A few years later he commercialised the footwear worn by the Star Wars sequel trilogy main characters, which were crafted with bio-based and renewable materials.
To take his life mission a step further, Sven founded the Better Shoes Foundation in 2016 as a not-for-profitknowledge-sharing platform to shine a light on best practice, connect brands and producers with relevant sustainability data, credible service providers, and low-impact material suppliers.
GFFC Founding Partner Consultant