About Footwear Industry:

India is the second largest Producer and Consumer of Footwear in the global market. As per reports, Indian Footwear & Leather sector has the potential to reach a turnover of USD 30 billion in next five years establishing a critical need of trained professionals to take up future roles at global platform. 

Footwear Industry being a multi-billion dollar industry, commands a premium place in world economy. Footwear market size was USD 373.19 billion in 2021 and is expected to grow at the compound annual growth rate of 4.3% from 2022 to 2030. The Industry is strongly concentrated in Asia where almost 9 out of every 10 pairs are being manufactured.

Thus, Footwear Design has immense potential and scope as a rewarding career.

About FDDI:

Footwear Design & Development Institute (FDDI) is one of the four top institutes in the world providing higher education in the related disciplines. FDDI was established in 1986, under the aegis of Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Govt. of India and has been granted the status of “An Institution of National Importance” under the FDDI Act 2017.

Almost all the leading Industries of the country are associated with the Institute and have a key participation in academic matters such as Programme design, curriculum upgradation, expertise lectures, as academic and governing council members etc. Due to the excellent quality of skill development, contemporary industry oriented curriculum and hands on experience on state of the art machine and workshops, FDDI holds an excellent record of placements in the industry.

About Courses:

FDDI offers Bachelor (4 years) and Master (2 years) degree programmes in the areas of Footwear Design & Production. While the Bachelor degree (B. Des.) course requires a 10+2 in any discipline, the Master degree (M. Des.) course requires a Bachelor degree in any discipline. There are a total of 120 seats in the Master program and 760 seats in the Bachelor program. These courses are imparted since 1986.

Admission Process:

Admissions are done though an Entrance Examination conducted by the Institute itself. Candidates have to appear in the All India Selection Test (AIST) conducted by FDDI. Besides the AIST conducted by FDDI, all eligible candidates with any valid National level entrance examination score card are also allowed for participating in Admission process for UG & PG programmes.

The criteria for processing score obtained against the FDDI AIST Rank are as follows:

“The aggregate percentile of any national level entrance examination score will be equated at par with FDDI percentile. Marks corresponding to the nearest percentile of the candidate who appeared in the FDDI AIST may be allotted and the candidate having score/percentage/percentile in entrance examinations will be positioned just below such candidate”.

Students having valid score are needed to apply online for admission. However they may be given exemption from appearing in AIST. In case they appear for AIST examination, the rank for such candidates shall be determined on the basis of candidate’s performance in AIST. Results of any National Level Entrance examination submitted will not be considered.

Alumni and Recruiters:

Notable Alumni of FDDI includes Mr. Deepak Chhbra (MD, Tupperware India), Mr. Aurag Pandey (VP & COO, Arvind Fashions Ltd.), Mr. Bharat Mahajn (LEED – Products, Wildcraft), and many more.

Major recruiters in the FDDI Campus Placement Drive are Puma, Bata, Aditya Birla Group, etc.

For more information about the courses and careers in Footwear Design, refer the official website of FDDI.