Leather goods product developer
Also called leather technologist, leatherware engineer, leather product engineer
Leather goods product developers perform and interface between design and actual production. They analyse and study designer’s specifications and transform them into technical requirements, updating concepts to manufacturing lines, selecting or even designing components and selecting materials. Leather goods product developers also perform the pattern engineering, namely they make patterns manually and produce technical drawings for various range of tools, especially cutting. They evaluate prototypes, performing required tests for samples and confirming the customer’s quality requirements and pricing constrains.
What you'd do
Product and garment designers · ILO- Determining the objectives and constraints of the design brief by consulting with clients and stakeholders
- Formulating design concepts for clothing, textiles, industrial, commercial and consumer products, and jewellery
- Harmonizing aesthetic considerations with technical, functional, ecological and production requirements
- Preparing sketches, diagrams, illustrations, plans, samples and models to communicate design concepts
- Negotiating design solutions with clients, management, and sales and manufacturing staff
- Selecting, specifying and recommending functional and aesthetic materials, production methods and finishes for manufacture
- Detailing and documenting the selected design for production
- Preparing and commissioning prototypes and samples
- Supervising the preparation of patterns, programmes and tooling, and of the manufacturing process
- Indoors
- Sitting most of the day
- Lots of contact with people, including the public
- Some freedom to decide
- Often more than 40 hours a week
- Deadlines most weeks
- Some repetitive tasks
Will there be jobs?
Yes, good prospectsMany jobs will need filling by 2035.
Solid: measured. Dashed: forecast.
What does it pay?
Above averagePay depends a lot on the country: from about €2,000 a month (Bulgaria) to €7,100 (Denmark), before tax.
Pick a country at the top of the page to see typical pay there, for people under 30, and compared with all jobs.
Among professionals in the EU, women earn 21% less per hour than men. Professionals · Eurostat
What do I need to study?
Usually a degreeA degree in textiles (clothes, footwear and leather) is the usual route.
949 institutions in the EU offer engineering bachelor's degrees. Pick a country at the top of the page to see where to study and the official course finders.
Will AI change it?
LittleAI could take on part of some tasks, but none fully.
Average task score 0.35 on a scale from 0 (AI can't do it) to 1 (AI could do it fully).
See the score for each of the 9 tasks
Based on what AI could technically do when assessed in 2025. It is not a forecast for a future year, and not a forecast of job losses. Scores for product and garment designers. Source: ILO (2025), adapted (credits).