Life, Job, Career: 6 Opportunities after Footwear Designing Course

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Life, Job, Career 6 opportunities after
footwear designing course
A footwear designer is a shoe engineer. He/she
studies the feet anatomy, knows about the
material properties, designs on CAD software,
understands the market trends and predicts the
next style statement. In short, the preconceived
notion of a footwear designer as a shoe-maker
needs to be shredded out. A career in footwear
designing entails working with high-end fashion
designers and collaborating on the perfect
footwear for the dresses they interpret for
catwalks. Fashion is not just clothes but
accessories as well, and footwear is the most
important aspect of it. Footwear design is the
specialized discipline of fashion design.
Footwear designers are adept at understanding
the needs of feet in differing scenarios and
design accordingly. For example, running shoes,
trekking shoes, formal shoes, all require
different materials, designs and
procedures. Footwear designers visualize a
design and then sketch these innovative thoughts
before starting out on making the shoe or
slippers or heels. This visual ideation is then
made to life in the production process.
Computers now have been playing an important role
in the designing process, through software like
CAD, Photoshop, Illustrator, Solidworks.
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To get started in footwear designing, the first
step is to enrol in a good footwear design
course and get graduation or post-graduation or
even a diploma in footwear designing. These
courses would hone your skill and prepare you for
market standards. Footwear design is a
comparatively closed industry, therefore if you
have contacts within the industry, it is easy
to land a job. Most of the jobs in the footwear
design industry are filled through
recommendations. A Footwear design course
enables you to create a portfolio for yourself
which will help you in landing a job with some
high-end shoe manufacturer or in retail at a
managerial capacity. There are many career
opportunities in different fields after
completing a footwear design course. In the
footwear design industry these roles can be
lucrative for a professional and one should
choose the field which suits their skill
set Retail store managers If you are the kind
of person who accumulates news about the footwear
sector and keeps up with the latest developments
and recent trends in the footwear industry, this
job role would fit you. You will have to manage a
footwear store which includes keeping track of
employees, sales, new arrivals, deals and
discounts, etc. Product Developers Footwear
product developers coordinate with manufacturers,
designers and material suppliers to launch a new
footwear style. You will have to look at previous
sales data, seasonal requirements and
availability of raw materials to work on
launching a shoe or footwear as per the
requirements and taste of the consumer. In short,
a footwear product developer has all the
knowledge of the creation process, market
insights, design and pattern drawing, costing
and therefore has the ability to
cross-functions. Technician A footwear
technician is like a technical analyst for a
shoe. He /she is responsible for checking and
ensuring the quality of footwear through various
technical methods. They will look for fits,
changes in the production process, if any. The
returned shoes are also analysed by them for
further changes in production. Development
Manager A footwear development manager is the
one responsible for each and every step of the
footwear development process. They convey the
specifications and product details to the
manufacturer and supplier and monitor the
development of the footwear. They also
communicate with the footwear designer to
finalise the design. A footwear development
manager also has to develop products that meet or
exceed the conceived gross margin. Merchandisers
The lifecycle of footwear after development to
sale is controlled and monitored by a footwear
merchandiser. They work for retail stores as well
as online stores. They plan, control and monitor
the purchase and intake of the footwear in order
to gain maximum profitability. Footwear
designer A footwear designer visualises,
sketches and ideates the design for the
footwear. He communicates with customers and
suppliers. The designer has to have the
knowledge of material properties that would best
suit the usage and the season footwear has to be
worn in. A designer is technically adept at using
software such as CAD and photoshop and
illustrator.
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All of these careers, after a footwear design
course from some leading footwear designing
institute would be open for you. There is a
lucrative lifestyle and high-end creativity and
management attached to all these job profiles. If
you love the work, each day would be a thrilling
adventure and an opportunity to learn something
new. In India, there are many governments and
private institutions offering UG or PG courses
in footwear design. Of these institutions, the
Footwear design and development institute,
(FDDI) and Central footwear Technical Institute
(CFTI) are the institutes that are focused
heavily in footwear designing and are equipped
with the latest technology and knowledge. Choose
the right course for you and have a bright
career, that is fresh, off-beat and interesting
as any other.