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Leather Design

Leather Designing is one of the most rapidly growing fields within the umbrella field of Fashion Designing in India. Leather goods manufactured in India, such as bags, shoes and belts are in high demand in India as well as in the international market. These are, hence, extensively exported. Designing products using leather is a challenging task, and hence an individual aiming to make this their career must take care of their health and also be high on stamina, as their job requires a lot of physical work.

Leather Design at a Glance

The discipline has evolved on a huge scale in the past few decades :

Footwear used to take up nearly 70% of all leather produced in the world but it dropped to nearer 50% in the middle of the last decade
In the recent years, there has been a lot of eminent development like transparent leather, Recycled Leather Furniture, Leather Jewellery,etc.

Leather designers perform a mix of the following Tasks on a regular basis :

Designing leather products or cloth either on paper or computer.
Manufacturing of the final product as designed through various steps like cutting, colouring, stitching, polishing, etc.
Collecting and examining leather samples.
Managing and coordinating with the production of designs/ products.
Staying abreast of the latest trends or fashion, product and techniques.
Meeting and consulting clients and dealers to discuss orders.
Working within the budget defined by client/ organization.
Supervise workers and staff in the team.

Aspirants should possess the following skills and qualities in order to be eligible for Pursuing a career in Leather Designing :

Designing skills
Good numerical skills
Sound knowledge of computer aided designing software
Strong planning ability
Problem solving ability

About Leather Design Schools

Sr No.	College/Institute	Location	Courses
1.	Madras Institute of Fashion Technology	Vadapalani, Chennai	B.Des in Leather design
2.	National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT)	Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore	B.Des in Leather Design
3.	Footwear Design and Development Institute	Noida, Uttar Pradesh	B.Des in Shoe Designing
4.	GLS Institute of Design	Ahmedabad	Bachelors (4 years) Integrated Masters (5 years) in Leather Design

The fundamental areas of study in Leather Design include :

Surface Techniques
Pattern Making & Grading
Design Process & Developments
Draping
Fashion Trends & Forecasting
Design Management & Entrepreneurship
Craft Research and Documentation
Industry Internship
Graduation Project

About the Work Industry/Job Market

Leather Design Graduates have opportunities to work in Industries like :

Export and Domestic Manufacturing
Retail
Buying and
Sourcing

They can be appointed in the roles of :

Designers
Merchandisers
Range Developers
Buyers
Production Managers and Entrepreneurs

The following recent trends can be observed in the Leather Design discipline :

In the first quarter of 2008 we began to see some definitive figures showing that less than 50% of the shoes in the world were being made of leather
On the other hand, automobile upholstery was only about 1% as we moved into the 20s and was nearly 10% by the mid decade with general upholstery for households and aeroplanes also growing

Freshers can expect a pay in the range of Rs. 3-5 L p.a.
For experienced professionals the range is Rs. 5-6.8 L p.a.

Following are the best companies/studios for leather designing in India :

Bata India Ltd
Bhartiya International Ltd.
Farida Group
Lakhani Armaan Group
Liberty Shoes Ltd.
Mayur Uniquoters Ltd.
Metro Shoes Ltd.
Mirza International Ltd.

Personalities to Follow :

Varun Behl
Manav Gangwani
Anita Dongre
Meera Mahadevia
Rajesh Pratap

Associations to Follow :

Gucci
Saddleback leather co.
Prada
Ralph Lauren Corporation
Wilsons The Leather Experts Inc.
Canada Goose
Alexander McQueen
John Varvatos Enterprises Inc
Salvatore Ferragamo S.p.A.
Triburg Leathers

Links to Follow :