Career in Shoe Designing

What is better than a pair of luxe shoes accentuating your overall look? There is a popular quote saying, “Shoes speak louder than words”, and this is completely true. The moment you meet someone, sub-consciously you end up glancing at their shoes. Wearing nice shoes adds to your personality. Footwear is an integral part of our look that can heighten a person’s personality in the snap of a finger. Owing to this, the shoe designing industry has been always on an uprise and is today one of the most successful careers in fashion designing. Through this blog, let us have a look at what would a career in shoe designing look like.

What is Shoe Designing?

It is a type of footwear designing which mainly deals with the conceptualizing, designing and creating a particular type of footwear- shoes and boots. Using their extensive knowledge and keeping abreast of fashion and design aesthetic trends prevailing in the fashion and footwear industry, a shoe designer designs concepts, materials and patterns. Studying this course equips the students with all the skills to creating a beautiful piece of a shoe while taking comfort and quality as major parameters.

Educational Requirements

Students aspiring to pursue a successful career in designing shoes must have completed basic and technical education. Explained below is the basic path that can be taken by such candidates

• The candidate must have completed high school level of studies or 10+2 level in any stream from a recognized educational board.
• The students must have graduated with a bachelors, masters or an associated degree in Footwear/Shoe/Fashion/Textile Design or Technology courses. Through these programs, the students will be taught about every aspect pertaining to shoe designing such as industrial design, shoe engineering, fashion marketing, etc. 
• Furthermore, the students need to have basic technical education in computers with various software like CAD (Computer-Aided Design) or other modelling software. They should have strong marketing analytical knowledge and business acumen to know the trend of the prevailing market.

Career in Shoe Designing Beginner Books

For candidates who wish to study these courses, they must begin their preparation by referring to a few books. Listed below are the books that can be used by beginners in the course –

1. Handbook of Footwear Design – Buy here
2. How to Start Your Own Shoe Company – Buy here
3. How to Start a Shoe Design Business – Buy here

Top Universities for Career in Shoe Designing Abroad

Providing best-in-class infrastructure and high-quality faculty, these below-listed universities for shoe designing offer students with all theoretical and practical training, along with industrial exposure essential to impart the necessary skillset within the learners. 

• University of Arts London
• RMIT University
• University of Northampton
• Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising
• Institut Français de la Mode
• De Montfort University
• Istituto Marangoni
• Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp
• Bunka Fashion College
• ESMOD Paris

Top Colleges for Career in Shoe Designing India

Listed below are the top colleges offering shoe designing degrees in India:

Universities/Colleges in India	Location
Central Footwear Training Institute (CFTI)	Chennai
Alagappa Institute of Technology	Chennai
National Institute of Fashion Technology	Bangalore
National Institute of Fashion Technology	Delhi
BD Somani Institute Of Art And Fashion Technology	Mumbai
Hamstech Institute of Fashion & Interior Design	Hyderabad
Central Footwear Training Institute	Agra
Footwear Design and Development Institute (FDDI)	Noida
Inter National Institute of Fashion and Interior Design	Hyderabad
Parul University	Vadodara

Job Responsibilities

Some of the basic job responsibilities performed by a shoe designer are as follows:

• Drafting rough drawings using CAD software
• Conceptualizing design ideas and shoe designing
• Collaborate with retail stores, fashion designers and accessory designers to anticipate the future collection and work on it.
• Experimenting with different materials and fabrics such as leather, canvas of various colours to adhere to the fashion trend.
• Overseeing product manufacturing
• Inspecting the quality and durability of shoes

Skills Required to become a Shoe Designer

To become a shoe designer, students must possess certain skills. Listed below is the required skill set for becoming a she designer :

• Flair for color, texture, and patterns
• Attention to detail
• Communication skills
• Interpersonal skills
• Creativity
• Visualization skills 
• Knowledge of computer design software
• Strong organizational skills
• Drawing skills

Popular Job Profiles

Upon completion of the required education in shoe designing, the candidates are made available with a multitude of career paths they can head for. Listed below are some of the most common and sought-after job profiles among the aspiring shoe designers. 

• Shoe Designer
• Fashion Illustrator
• Accessories Designer
• Retail Store Managers
• Footwear Product Developers
• Footwear Merchandisers
• Footwear Technician
• Trade Analyst
• Production Manager
• Cost Analyst
• Quality Inspector

Areas of Employment

While talking about accessories, one can’t afford to miss out footwear, making it an essential part of Fashion. There has always been a rising market for shoes. Owing to this, the demand for a professional shoe designer will always be at a high bar. With the coming up of more and more footwear industries, there has been a constant rise in the demand for shoe designing courses among the young aspirants. Given below are some of the most prominent areas of employment where a graduate in this course can work.

• Retail And Wholesaling
• Corporate Business
• Merchandising
• Trading
• Design Consultancy Firms
• Footwear Manufacturing Industries
• Import And Export Industry
• Footwear Retail Brands
• Designer Labels

Recruiting Companies

Mentioned below are some of the most popular recruiting companies, hiring graduates who have completed graduation in shoe designing –

1. Converse
2. Adidas
3. Skechers
4. Lee Cooper
5. Woodland
6. Crocs
7. Campers
8. Puma
9. Nike

FAQs

This blog walked you through all the possibilities of Shoe designing as a carer and its scope. If you are looking forward to pursuing a course in this field and do not know which way to go, reach out to Leverage Edu. Our unique AI tool will map you with a suitable course and university that fits your future goals. Book your 30 minutes free career counselling session and get the answers to all your questions.