Footwear designer to leather goods designer
A footwear designer already meets 59% of what the leather goods designer role asks for. The move turns on 7 required skills not yet in the profile.
45/ 100
1 How much of what a leather goods designer is expected to do is already part of a footwear designer’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the leather goods designer role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A leather goods designer role treats 11 of its required skills as things a footwear designer already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- apply fashion trends to footwear and leather goods
- communicate commercial and technical issues in foreign languages
- create mood boards
- develop footwear and leather goods marketing plans
- ergonomics in footwear and leather goods design
- footwear and leather goods marketing planning
What stands in the way is 7 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 16 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A leather goods designer role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a footwear designer background worth leading with.
- already held use CAD for soles working with computers
- already held create 3D CAD footwear prototypes working with computers
- already held footwear and leather goods marketing planning business, administration and law
- already held CAD for footwear engineering, manufacturing and construction
- already held develop footwear and leather goods marketing plans management skills
- already held implement footwear marketing plan communication, collaboration and creativity
All 16 carried skills, including the 11 the leather goods designer role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 12 missing skills fall into 6 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn leather goods components required
- still to learn leather goods manufacturing processes required
- still to learn leather goods materials required
- still to learn leather goods quality required
- optional, not held manual cutting processes for leather optional
- still to learn develop leather goods collection required
- still to learn sketch leather goods required
- optional, not held perform ideation activities optional
- still to learn apply development process to footwear design required
- optional, not held design management optional
- optional, not held CAD software optional
- optional, not held use CAD software optional
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a leather goods designer role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 apply development process to footwear design practise this
- 02 develop leather goods collection practise this
- 03 leather goods components study this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 16 skills that carry over
- already held apply fashion trends to footwear and leather goods skill
- already held communicate commercial and technical issues in foreign languages skill
- already held create mood boards skill
- already held develop footwear and leather goods marketing plans skill
- already held ergonomics in footwear and leather goods design knowledge
- already held footwear and leather goods marketing planning knowledge
- already held footwear creation process knowledge
- already held implement footwear marketing plan skill
- already held innovate in footwear and leather goods industry skill
- already held use IT tools skill
- already held use communication techniques skill
- already held CAD for footwear knowledge
- already held create 3D CAD footwear prototypes skill
- already held make technical drawings of fashion pieces skill
- already held reduce environmental impact of footwear manufacturing skill
- already held use CAD for soles skill
5 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held perform ideation activities optional
- optional, not held design management optional
- optional, not held manual cutting processes for leather optional
- optional, not held CAD software optional
- optional, not held use CAD software optional
18 held skills the leather goods designer role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role analyse types of footwear skill
- not needed by the target role create patterns for footwear skill
- not needed by the target role create solutions to problems skill
- not needed by the target role create technical sketches for footwear skill
- not needed by the target role design 2D pattern for footwear 3D visualisation skill
- not needed by the target role develop footwear collection skill
- not needed by the target role footwear components knowledge
- not needed by the target role footwear manufacturing technology knowledge
- not needed by the target role footwear materials knowledge
- not needed by the target role footwear quality knowledge
- not needed by the target role last types knowledge
- not needed by the target role operate 2D CAD for footwear skill
- not needed by the target role perform market research in footwear skill
- not needed by the target role perform pattern grading skill
- not needed by the target role prepare footwear samples skill
- not needed by the target role use CAD for heels skill
- not needed by the target role use CAD for lasts skill
- not needed by the target role work in textile manufacturing teams skill
7 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn leather goods components required
- still to learn leather goods manufacturing processes required
- still to learn leather goods materials required
- still to learn leather goods quality required
- optional, not held design management optional
- optional, not held manual cutting processes for leather optional
- optional, not held CAD software optional
Common questions about this move
Can a footwear designer become a leather goods designer?
Yes, and it is a moderate move. A footwear designer already covers 59% of what a leather goods designer is expected to do: 16 skills carry over, 11 of which the leather goods designer role treats as required.
What skills does a footwear designer need to become a leather goods designer?
7 required skills are missing, plus 5 optional ones. They fall into 6 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by engineering, manufacturing and construction. The single most important is apply development process to footwear design.
How hard is the move from footwear designer to leather goods designer?
Its learning distance is 45 out of 100, which is the moderate band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.