Life, Job, Career: 6 opportunities after footwear designing course:
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.
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.
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.
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