3D printing, digital workflows, generative AI applied to footwear design, and how to prepare the next generation of talent for a rapidly evolving industry were among the key topics discussed at Stride Europe 2026.
Matteo Pasca, Director of Arsutoria School, moderated two panels that explored the future of the industry: “Is Europe Ready for the Digital Renaissance?” and “The Digital Education Dilemma: How to Upskill the Next Generation of Talent”
1. THE EUROPEAN FOOTWEAR INDUSTRY IS SEEKING ITS OWN RENAISSANCE
At Stride Europe 2026, on the island of glass, Matteo Pasca moderated the opening panel featuring Hugo Boss, Nice Footwear and La Sportiva. Four key topics: AI, corporate structure and the pace of change.
Glass has been blown in Murano for eight centuries. People arrive early in the morning at the furnaces, when the masters work in silence, with gestures that very few in the world can replicate. Inside the Glass Cathedral — the former church of Santa Chiara converted into a cultural space — on 28 and 29 April 2026, the discussion turned to other matters: 3D printing, digital workflows, and generative AI applied to footwear design. Stride Europe, an offshoot of the American format launched in Portland in 2025, chose the island of the master glassmakers for two days of product development.
The opening panel bore a challenging title: ‘Is Europe Ready for the Digital Renaissance?’. It was moderated by Matteo Pasca, director of Arsutoria — the Milan-based school and publishing house that has been chronicling the making of shoes and bags for decades. Joining him on stage were three figures from different backgrounds: Francesco Torresan, COO & Head of Product at Nice Footwear Group; Daniel Gordon, Vice President of Footwear at Hugo Boss; Giustiano Peruzzo, R&D Footwear Design Manager at La Sportiva. Craftsmanship, luxury, performance. Four key issues emerged.
1.1 STRUCTURE OR CULTURE: WHICH COMES FIRST?
The opening question challenges conventional wisdom. We tend to think that digital transformation starts with people’s mindset. But if the corporate structure isn’t ready — pipelines, processes, tools — mindset alone isn’t enough. Deadlines and objectives remain the same, and human nature reverts to what it knows best: the old way of doing things. Structure comes first, then culture follows. In artisanal settings, the relationship is reversed: the tools often already exist, and the real bottleneck becomes the mindset.
1.2 THE CATALYSTS
Investing in software is not enough. We need people who drive the corporate culture forward — not necessarily young people, but individuals who embrace new tools out of passion, even in their spare time. These are the true drivers of change, more so than top management announcing shifts from above. Becoming attached to a tool because you have invested time and money in it is the most common trap. In the age of AI, a new tool replaces the old one in a matter of
months. Knowing how to let go quickly is just as important as knowing how to adopt.
1.3 SPEED AND HUMAN LIMITS
The last six months have seen more change than entire decades. Technology moves faster than organisations, and large structures cannot adapt in two weeks. Neither do humans. We are creatures accustomed to hard work, yes, but we are not machines. For analysis and calculation, AI is a weapon; for creativity, it remains a tool, not the answer. Those who know their craft drive the machine. Those who expect the machine to do the job for them, do not.
1.4 THE LESSON OF FAILURE
Anyone embarking on a digital journey today should be prepared to make mistakes. The typical mistake is the end-to-end pipeline, the single tool that covers everything: designers and technicians think in opposite ways; no software serves both. Better to have multiple, interchangeable tools. And make time dedicated to learning mandatory:
if training remains optional, it remains unfulfilled. The shoes must be delivered anyway. But delivery does not wait for transformation. The panel concluded with a question left as a legacy for the rest of the summit: will technology answer the questions that current challenges force us to ask? Between the furnaces of Murano and the algorithms of the Glass Cathedral, the answers remain in human hands.
2. THE CV THAT CAN’T SEEM TO CATCH THE RIGHT MOMENT
A panel at Stride Europe 2026 highlighted a structural issue: how do you teach a trade that changes faster than training courses? Matteo Pasca of Arsutoria was among the speakers.
A few years ago, Renault had decided: clay modellers were no longer needed. The future was digital. They were made redundant. Then the company started hiring them again. This is not a story about the failure of digitalisation. It is a story about how difficult it is to understand which part of the trade is truly replaceable. The same question was at the heart of the panel discussion “The Digital Education Dilemma: How to Upskill the Next Generation of Talent” at Stride Europe 2026. Alongside Matteo Pasca, director of Arsutoria, were Defne Yalkut, founder of the Sole Design Academy; Louis de Vos, talent consultant (formerly of adidas and ON); Virginia Fani, researcher at the Fashion for Future Lab at the University of
Florence; and Pierre Kasperczyk, deputy head of design at Rubika.
2.1 A READY-MADE CURRICULUM IS ALREADY OUTDATE
The digital tools required of a footwear designer have proliferated: Substance, CLO 3D, Blender, generative AI. The Problem isn’t the list — it’s that by the time a training programme is finalised and marketed months before courses begin, the technology has already moved on. It’s uncomfortable to admit, but it’s the first point to emerge when discussing training honestly. The answer isn’t to chase every piece of software. It’s to teach a method: how to integrate any tool into a workflow. Grammar before syntax.
2.2 YOU STILL HAVE TO TOUCH THE PRODUCT
Generating images with AI doesn’t teach you how a sole reacts to the last, or where a construction fails under stress. Arsutoria has responded by investing in the sample room — machinery, technicians, physical space — and a rule: the student physically creates what they have designed. Rubika has bought six professional sewing machines for the same reason. It is not nostalgia for manual craftsmanship: it is a criterion of truth.
2.3 ROLES TO BE DEFINED, CVS TO BE BUILT
Roles to be defined, CVs to be built. Companies present contradictory job descriptions: the 3D designer who can sew, the concept creator who also does prototyping. Asking one person to do everything results in ‘creative dilution’ — someone who is average at everything. Defining clear roles is the prerequisite for sensible CVs, not the consequence. This task falls to schools, not brands.
2.4 SOFT SKILLS ABOVE ALL
Companies rarely ask for a “level three in Blender”. They look for people who are punctual, curious, and capable
of learning in changing contexts. Soft skills remain the most sought-after variable — and the hardest to teach. AI should be seen as a field that requires aptitude, not technical mastery. The real question isn’t “do you know how to use this software?” but: do you have the curiosity to learn one that doesn’t yet exist?
Even Renault, in the end, brought back the clay modellers. Not because digital had failed. Because certain trades never become as simple as they promise.