SHOE THE WAY
Buckle up for a career in leather technology, a field where you get ample chance to put your best foot forward.

Think leather and you immediately picture punk bikers with spiked hair and leather jackets. But think a little harder and, you can see Britney Spears and Paris Hilton in very snazzy leather boots and skirts, and Madonna in leather accessories. Today, leather is not only making fashion statements, but is also comfortable and colourful.

What is also interesting to note is that much of the leather worn all over the world comes from India. The Indian leather industry today produces and exports fashionable leather garments, shoes, accessories, handbags, brief cases and other exotic goods. In fact, leather is India's fourth largest export earner, after gems and jewellery, textiles and engineering goods. Being the largest cattle-owning country in the world, India has indeed a rich and varied raw material base.

Areas of work

Depending on your area of interest, you can choose the area of work in the leather industry. The three major areas of work include—design of leather items, the manufacture of all kinds of leather, and marketing of finished products.

Design: Designing in the leather industry involves creating and developing new and up-to-date patterns, keeping in mind, the fashion trends. Designers prepare rough sketches, make out patterns and decide on the number of cuts that are to be given for the particular style, as leather comes in different sizes.

This is followed by grading and sample making. In fact, with the growing demand for leather goods, much of the design work is now done using the Computer aided Design (CAD) system, widely used in some of the prominent leather and footwear design institutes. This has also led to a boost in the production of a greater variety of leather goods. Designers work in a team, with fabric designers, production people and marketing specialists. When the design is finalised, it is sent to pattern cutters, who will turn it into a two-dimensional pattern, suitable for mass production.

Manufacture: This involves the manufacture/ production of mass leather items, whether garments, shoes, accessories, from samples or designs. The manufacturing process of leather products begins in the tanneries and leather factories, where production managers supervise the tanning and treatment of animal skins which preserve the leather and make it soft and flexible. The Production Manager is in charge of supervising production flow systems and ensuring that the manufacturing process runs smoothly, without bottlenecks. Therefore, production professionals are technically trained to understand and handle all modern state-of-the-art equipment efficiently.

Marketing: Marketing involves coordination by the marketing executives, between factories and buyers. It involves ensuring the availability of ready buyers for the products in the domestic market, as well as for export, while also creating a market for new designs and products. Marketing is usually handled by major leather goods and footwear production houses independently, or in association with the media and advertising companies.

Eligibility

You would require training in leather design suitable for those with creative abilities, or in leather technology for those technically inclined. With a management qualification you can also move into marketing of leather goods.

Several institutes all over the country offer professional training for the leather industry at the graduate and postgraduate level in all three areas of work, including design, manufacture and marketing. While most leather institutes concentrate on manufacture, there are fashion design institutes that also offer courses in leather designing. Moreover, general courses in fashion design or merchandising can also provide the basics for a career in the leather industry.

Course clues

The National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), New Delhi, offers a four-year undergraduate degree programme in leather garment design for students from any subject stream, with creative ability. Selection to the course is through a preliminary entrance test, and an interview.

The Footwear Design and Development Institute (F.D.D.I.), located at centres in Noida, and in Chennai, provides professional training in the management, supervision and design of footwear, which can be made from leather. The institute provides an undergraduate diploma course in footwear technology for plus two students (3 years). Science and engineering graduates can apply for the PG diploma programme in footwear technology, while the diploma in Footwear Designing (DFD) is a one-year course for graduates in fine arts, or graduates in any other discipline, having a flair for sketching. The institute also offers a footwear management programme for which you need an engineering degree in mechanical or production engineering or leather technology, and several short courses too. Admission to the Institute is on the basis of an entrance examination consisting of a written test and interview.

You would need a background in science (especially Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics) to be eligible for the B.Tech course in leather technology. Diploma or short-term certificate courses in leather technology are also available.

The Central Leather Research Institute (C.L.R.I.) at Chennai offers certificate and diploma courses in Leather Technology. The institute also offers B.Tech and M. Tech courses in leather technology and footwear technology. The College of Leather Technology in Kolkata offers a four-year B.Tech course in leather technology. Selection to the course is through the IIT-JEE. Harcourt Butler Technological Institute (H.B.T.I.) in Kanpur offers both B.Tech and M.Tech courses in this field. Here too, selection to the courses is through the IIT-JEE.

The Government Leather Institute at Agra offers a three-year diploma course in footwear and leather goods technology — a course designed keeping in view the international demand for leather goods. Admission is conducted through the State Joint Entarnce Examination for those with plus two with science and maths.

Bagging a job

With a B.Tech/ M.Tech in leather technology, you are eligible for good jobs in prestigeous leather firms, export houses and government organisations. Moreover, candidates who have done the Management Course in Footwear Technology (MFT), the Diploma Course in Footwear Designing (DFD) and the Supervisory Course in Footwear Technology (SFT) can get excellent jobs in leading footwear companies.

After completing these courses, you can expect to get jobs with large industrial export houses as production executives, quality controllers or designers. Leather technologists find employment, specifically with the footwear, leather garments and leather products industries.

After some years of experience, you can even set up your own manufacturing units. Several institutions provide financial and other infrastructural facilities for these purposes. Information and guidance ,both financial as well as infrastructural, is provided by institutions like the Small Industries development Bank of India (SIDBI), Small Industries Development organsiation (SIDO), Small Industries Service Institute, National Small Industries Corporation and the like.

With the Council for Leather Exports having set targets for the growth of leather exports, all these organisations also assist the leather entrepreneur with marketing assistance, export facilities, supply of machines on hire purchase, supplementing the availability of raw materials etc.

However, you need to have the ability to put in hard work, for long hours, in unpleasant surroundings, dealing with the smell of raw hides and animal skins in the factories. Marketing executives are expected to have good managerial and organising abilities and above average intelligence, while designers should be creative and at the same time, they should have a flair for observing fashion trends.

But with the current growth in leather exports, and a thrust given by the government to leather as a priority sector, the scope for professionals in the leather industry is high. Leather garments are definitely categorised in the range of hi-fashion apparel and with their demand increasing, a boom has been predicted for this industry.

So, if you do decide to put on those leather boots, you can certainly walk away with a lucrative career.

The writer is a noted career expert