Overview
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.
This course has a scholarship available for 2025 entry. 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.