Footwear Design

Footwear design is a skilful and creatively unique discipline that is highly sought after within the fashion industry. DMU is currently the only UK university offering a single honours course in this area, also enabling you to specialise in men’s, women’s, children’s or performance footwear.

In our industry-standard facilities, you will develop technical and modern shoemaking skills and be empowered to turn your imaginative 2D ideas into physical, 3D functional pieces. Our goal is to produce confident, career-ready graduates, and wider-employability skills are embedded throughout the curriculum. We will coach you on illustration and drawing skills, and you’ll learn how to present and communicate your ideas and concepts to a professional standard.

With over 100 years of heritage in footwear design, our impressive links with industry present opportunities to work with iconic footwear brands and help you to build an impressive address book of connections - students have recently worked with Adidas, Hermes and Kurt Geiger to name a few. We also host regular guest visits and lectures, so you can learn the tricks of the trade and gain valuable insights into new products and technologies.

• You don’t need to have a background in footwear to join us – many of our students have no previous experience but graduate as skilled experts, going on to enjoy impressive careers in the creative industries.

• Benefit from a range of showcasing opportunities and annual competitions, such as the DMU Degree Show and New Designers – connecting you with global brands and industry experts.

• Our impressive industry connections support students in obtaining placements with sector-leading brands, including Puma, Clarks, Lacoste, Bemont and Adidas.

• Graduates have gone on to enjoy successful careers in roles in design, technical product development, buying and marketing at global brands such as Alexander McQueen, Givenchy, Jimmy Choo, Sophia Webster, Nike and New Balance, as well as many others.

• We are members of the UK Fashion and Textiles Association which ensures our teaching stays up to date with the latest developments in the sector and provides valuable industry links that enhance our courses*.*

This course has a scholarship available. The Worshipful Company of Cordwainers Scholarship offers a £3,000 cash bursary, to support students with the increasing cost of living. To be eligible, students must have a household income of £50,000 or less.

Course Modules

Year 1
Block 1: Design Fundamentals
Block 2: Design Exploration
Block 3: Design Development
Block 4: Futures - Design, Culture and Responsibility

Year 2
Block 1: Bespoke Principles
Block 2: Communicate - Professional Practices
Block 3: Design Innovations
Block 4: Concept Realisation

Year 3
Block 1: Conceptual Inquiry
Block 2: Creative Realisation
Block 3 and Block 4: Design Resolution

https://www.dmu.ac.uk/study/courses/undergraduate-courses/footwear-design-ba-degree/footwear-design-ba-degree.aspx#what-you-will-study

You deserve a positive teaching and learning experience, where you feel part of a supportive and nurturing community. That’s why most students will enjoy an innovative approach to learning using block teaching, where you will study one module at a time. You’ll benefit from regular assessments – rather than lots of exams at the end of the year – and a simple timetable that allows you to engage with your subject and enjoy other aspects of university life such as sports, societies, meeting friends and discovering your new city. By studying with the same peers and tutor for each block, you’ll build friendships and a sense of belonging.

Structure
The focus of your first year will be to ‘Investigate’ through a grounding in research, concept development, 2D illustration, basic technical skills and design development. The second year aims to ‘Develop’ your skills and knowledge, building on the foundation gained in the first year. Your third year will ‘Consolidate’ your learning by bringing together all the skills you have learnt into a final product that reflects your chosen area of focus and individual design aesthetic.

You will be taught through a combination of lectures, seminars, practical studio sessions, tutorials, workshops and self-directed study. The assessments are designed to build on each other as you progress in your studies and you will have opportunities to receive feedback on your work throughout your learning journey.

You are encouraged to enter national and international competitions including the Moda competition, the Worshipful Company of Cordwainers Footwear awards, the Worshipful Company of Patternmakers Orthopaedic awards and the CIONE biomechanical award. Our students have had numerous competition successes with recent prizes at Graduate Fashion Week, Fashanne and the Drapers Footwear Awards.

Contact hours
In your first year you will normally attend around 15 hours of timetabled taught sessions (lectures and tutorials) each week, and we expect you to undertake at least 24 further hours of independent study to complete project work and research.