Footwear Design

Footwear design is an industry that is seeing an upsurge in popularity and demand. With the increase in love for aesthetics and luxury, people are acknowledging unique as well as innovative designs. From sportswear to the catwalk and high street fashion shoes, all ranges are being appreciated in the footwear industry. Keeping the exports earnings and employment generation of the industry in mind, many aspirants are willing to study footwear design to ensure a secure and successful career. 
Footwear design course general equips an individual with a combination of marketing and aesthetic principles. Through the course, students get to analyse trends, material knowledge, technical skills and manufacturing process. They also inculcate soft skills, interpersonal skills and learn how to manage people. Aspirant can choose from certificate, diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate courses in footwear design. The basic subjects taught in the course are Product knowledge, Product Design, Product Costing, Marketing, HRM, Manufacturing technology, Marketing & Market Research etc. Footwear designing courses are formulated to make students familiar with freehand and CAD footwear drafting, styling methods, technology in material analysis, hands-on shoe construction techniques etc. 
India is one of the most affluent and favourable base destinations for footwear manufacturing and sourcing. The courses offered in footwear design aims to cultivate skilful professionals that can contribute to the success of the entire industry.

Footwear Design Highlights

Check out the overview of the footwear design course below.

The eligibility criteria of footwear design are the basic personal and academic parameters that an individual must meet in order to pursue the course. To study footwear design it is essential to meet the minimum eligibility requirements prescribed by the institute or else the admission would be considered as invalid. Each college has a different set of eligibility criteria for footwear design courses. Mentioned below are the level-wise conditions that an applicant must meet before enrolling to a footwear design program.

Certificate & Diploma: The eligibility criteria for diploma courses vary from college to college. Some institutes offer admission to an individual who has qualified class 12th while others also provide admission after class 10th. The minimum aggregate score is set by the institute.

Undergraduate: The applicant must have completed class 12th from a recognised board of education in any stream. It is essential for the aspirant to meet the minimum aggregate requirement assigned by the college.

Postgraduate: Before taking up a postgraduate course in fashion designing, it is vital for a candidate to have qualified graduation in any stream.

Note: The age limit has no boundation in most of the colleges. However, some institutes have set an upper age limit that must also be considered while checking the eligibility criteria for a preferred course.

Footwear Design Admission Process

The admission process followed by all the design institutes is different. Mentioned below is the selection process for footwear design that a candidate is most likely to encounter.

• Certain colleges conduct a separate entrance exam to enrol students for the course while some consider the score of the common entrance exam of design such as FDDI AIST, PID DAT.

• The basic rounds in the admission process of footwear design are written aptitude test, situation test, personal interview or portfolio test.

• Few colleges offer admission to students on the basis of merit in the last qualifying exam. Some even grant scholarships to exceptional candidates.

• Admission to certificate or diploma courses in fashion design is conducted directly on a first-come, first-serve basis in certain colleges.

Footwear Design Popular Courses

Here is the list of popular footwear design courses in India:

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The syllabus of footwear design is subjective and tends to vary from college to college. Find out the basic subjects or important topics that a student is taught while pursuing a footwear design course.

Candidates can explore plenty of career options in footwear design. On the initial days, they can extract salary ranging from anywhere between Rs. 1,49,000 to Rs. 10,00,000 per annum. A few of the popular job profiles that can be considered after completing a footwear design course are enlisted below.

• Footwear Designer
• Product Designer
• Marketing Coordinator
• Marketing Manager
• Footwear Technician
• Product Developer
• Fashion Designer
• Footwear Development Manager
• Retails Manager
• Footwear Merchandiser