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Global Leader in Footwear Innovation & Commercialization | Technical Development | Quality & Cost Management | Athlete Collaboration

Fashion & Apparel

Senior&nbsp;Footwear&nbsp;Product&nbsp;Strategist&nbsp;|&nbsp;Fractional&nbsp;Development&nbsp;for&nbsp;Performance&nbsp;&amp;&nbsp;Lifestyle&nbsp;BrandsI&nbsp;help&nbsp;footwear&nbsp;brands&nbsp;get&nbsp;product&nbsp;right,&nbsp;faster,&nbsp;and&nbsp;with&nbsp;less&nbsp;risk.&nbsp;I’ve&nbsp;spent&nbsp;25&nbsp;years&nbsp;running&nbsp;development&nbsp;end-to-end—from&nbsp;materials&nbsp;and&nbsp;design,&nbsp;to&nbsp;factories&nbsp;and&nbsp;testing,&nbsp;to&nbsp;athletes&nbsp;on&nbsp;court&nbsp;or&nbsp;on&nbsp;course.&nbsp;These&nbsp;days&nbsp;I&nbsp;step&nbsp;in&nbsp;as&nbsp;a&nbsp;fractional&nbsp;Head&nbsp;of&nbsp;Footwear&nbsp;Development—basically,&nbsp;I&nbsp;bring&nbsp;senior-level&nbsp;judgment&nbsp;into&nbsp;teams&nbsp;when&nbsp;they&nbsp;need&nbsp;it&nbsp;most,&nbsp;without&nbsp;the&nbsp;cost&nbsp;of&nbsp;a&nbsp;full-time&nbsp;hire.&nbsp;I&nbsp;focus&nbsp;on&nbsp;catching&nbsp;issues&nbsp;early,&nbsp;improving&nbsp;decision-making,&nbsp;and&nbsp;helping&nbsp;brands&nbsp;scale&nbsp;smarter,&nbsp;whether&nbsp;it’s&nbsp;performance,&nbsp;lifestyle,&nbsp;or&nbsp;action&nbsp;sports&nbsp;footwear.&nbsp;My&nbsp;sweet&nbsp;spot&nbsp;is&nbsp;applying&nbsp;real&nbsp;factory,&nbsp;sourcing,&nbsp;and&nbsp;athlete&nbsp;insight&nbsp;to&nbsp;make&nbsp;sure&nbsp;a&nbsp;product&nbsp;isn’t&nbsp;just&nbsp;cool&nbsp;on&nbsp;paper—it&nbsp;actually&nbsp;works&nbsp;in&nbsp;the&nbsp;real&nbsp;world.–&nbsp;Product&nbsp;creation&nbsp;&amp;&nbsp;line&nbsp;architecture–&nbsp;Factory&nbsp;engagement&nbsp;and&nbsp;manufacturing&nbsp;strategy–&nbsp;Costing,&nbsp;tooling,&nbsp;and&nbsp;materials&nbsp;decision-making–&nbsp;Fit,&nbsp;wear-testing,&nbsp;and&nbsp;performance&nbsp;validation–&nbsp;Scaling&nbsp;from&nbsp;prototype&nbsp;to&nbsp;commercial&nbsp;productionFractional&nbsp;leadership&nbsp;isn’t&nbsp;part-time&nbsp;thinking.It’s&nbsp;focused,&nbsp;senior&nbsp;experience&nbsp;applied&nbsp;where&nbsp;it&nbsp;has&nbsp;the&nbsp;highest&nbsp;impact.I&nbsp;typically&nbsp;work&nbsp;with&nbsp;founder-led&nbsp;brands,&nbsp;PE-backed&nbsp;companies,&nbsp;and&nbsp;growing&nbsp;teams&nbsp;who&nbsp;need&nbsp;experienced&nbsp;footwear&nbsp;development&nbsp;leadership—but&nbsp;not&nbsp;another&nbsp;full-time&nbsp;headcount.Significant&nbsp;on-the-ground&nbsp;experience&nbsp;in&nbsp;Asia,&nbsp;working&nbsp;directly&nbsp;with&nbsp;factories,&nbsp;suppliers,&nbsp;and&nbsp;liaison&nbsp;offices&nbsp;throughout&nbsp;the&nbsp;footwear&nbsp;creation&nbsp;and&nbsp;commercialization&nbsp;process.

Led end-to-end footwear product development across performance and lifestyle categories, from early concept through commercial production
Served as the senior escalation point for complex product, construction, tooling, and manufacturing decisions, ensuring design intent translated seamlessly into scalable production
Spent extensive time on-the-ground in Asia, embedded with factories, suppliers, and liaison offices to strengthen cross-cultural alignment and execution reliability
Developed bespoke footwear as performance equipment for elite PGA Tour athletes, capturing precise in-competition feedback that informed product improvements for the broader golfing market, including footwear for everyday golfers to Enjoy Golf
Applied deep factory, supplier, and sourcing knowledge to identify and mitigate product and manufacturing risk before line freeze or production commitment
Mentored internal development, design, and product teams, fostering pattern recognition and decision-making rigor to prevent costly downstream errors
Developed cross-functional alignment with design, marketing, sourcing, and testing teams, ensuring both commercial success and athlete/end-user satisfaction
This role represents the culmination of years of building factory-informed judgment, process discipline, and cross-functional leadership—experience I now bring to brands in a fractional development capacity.

Senior Developer - Golf Footwear

Led development for performance basketball footwear within adidas’ highly structured, process-driven product creation system
Combined deep manufacturing and supplier expertise with structured development cadence to improve decision quality
Built fluency in adidas’ end-to-end product creation process, learning how disciplined cadence, milestones, and cross-functional alignment can accelerate decision-making at scale
Developed a basketball product from the ground up that became the most automation-driven footwear product in company history, enabling a significantly lower price point and massive volume
This program replaced a legacy icon that transitioned from performance basketball into the Originals business, requiring a fundamentally new approach to construction, tooling, and manufacturing efficiency
Worked directly with elite NBA and NCAA athletes to develop player-exclusive and signature footwear, translating on-court feedback and performance data into product decisions
Supported marquee athlete programs including Derrick Rose, Dwight Howard, Tim Duncan, Tracy McGrady, and top NCAA programs such as UCLA, Kansas, Notre Dame, Louisville, Tennessee, and Texas A&M

Manager Footwear Development Basketball


Costing Manager
Costing Manager
Stride Rite · Full-timeStride Rite · Full-time
Apr 2009 - Jul 2011 · 2 yrs 4 mosApr 2009 to Jul 2011 · 2 yrs 4 mos
Lexington, MA · On-siteLexington, MA · On-site
Led the development of a transparent, BOM-based full-transparency footwear costing framework at a time when cost structures were largely opaque and assumption-driven
Built bottom-up costing models grounded in a deep understanding of how factories, suppliers, and vertically integrated manufacturing groups actually operate
Worked directly with manufacturing partners to break down materials, components, tooling, molds, labor, overhead, and margin into fully visible cost structures
Gained firsthand insight into vertically integrated factory bases—such as Yu Yen—where component production, molds, and final assembly are costed and managed internally
This role gave me a factory-accurate lens on cost—one I continue to apply when guiding early development and sourcing decisions.

Costing Manager

Co-founded and operated a consulting LLC supporting consumer brands across branding, product, and go-to-market strategy
Delivered footwear-specific consulting for global brands, supporting sample development, sourcing, and costing in close partnership with Asia-based factories
Leveraged long-standing relationships with Asia-based sourcing partners in Dongguan to support rapid sample making, factory alignment, and cost optimization

Development Director

Engaged as a short-term Product Development Lead supporting private-label footwear programs for major big-box retail partners
Worked within a first-cost development model, operating as both product creator and sourcing agent on behalf of retailers
Led development across multiple customers simultaneously, each with distinct cost targets, quality expectations, and speed-to-market requirements
Partnered closely with Asia-based factories and sourcing teams to align design intent with aggressive cost, margin, and timeline constraints
Developed a deep understanding of how development decisions shift when brands do not own retail, margin, or inventory risk
This experience expanded my perspective on footwear development—shaping how I now adapt leadership approach based on business model, cost structure, and customer.

Line Builder - Product Development Consultant

Transitioned from Commercialization into Product Development to influence footwear decisions earlier in the creation process
Applied deep, factory-based experience from Asia to early development decisions across materials, construction, tooling, and fit
Acted as a bridge between design, development, sourcing, and manufacturing teams
Identified manufacturability, fit, and tooling risks early—before line freeze and production commitment
Helped align design intent with production realities to reduce downstream rework and delays
This transition marked a shift toward influencing product outcomes earlier—where experience has the greatest impact

Product Development Technician

Advanced from hands-on production and quality roles into senior commercialization leadership
Spent extended periods based in Asia, embedded with factories, suppliers, and liaison offices during critical development and production phases
Worked directly on the factory floor and with vendor teams to ensure footwear programs were production-ready at scale
Led fit, testing, and quality processes to support consistent commercial output
Developed a practical, factory-informed view of how product decisions impact manufacturability, yield, and cost
This experience became the backbone of my development philosophy: design and develop with production realities in mind

Director of Commercialization

Find out detailed information about Keith Sedgwick, Global Leader in Footwear Innovation & Commercialization | Technical Development | Quality & Cost Management | Athlete Collaboration in Oceanside, California

Keith Sedgwick: Global Leader in Footwear Innovation & Commercialization | Technical Development | Quality & Cost Management | Athlete Collaboration in Oceanside, California