A cordwainer is a shoemaker/cobbler

Shoemaking

Shoemaking is the process of making footwear. Originally, shoes were made one at a time by hand. Traditional handicraft shoemaking has now been largely superseded in volume of shoes produced by industrial mass production of footwear, but not necessarily in quality, attention to detail, or...

 who makes fine soft leather

Leather

Leather is a durable and flexible material created via the tanning of putrescible animal rawhide and skin, primarily cattlehide. It can be produced through different manufacturing processes, ranging from cottage industry to heavy industry.-Forms:...

 shoes and other luxury footwear articles. The word is derived from "cordwain", or "cordovan", the leather produced in Córdoba, Spain

Córdoba, Spain

-History:The first trace of human presence in the area are remains of a Neanderthal Man, dating to c. 32,000 BC. In the 8th century BC, during the ancient Tartessos period, a pre-urban settlement existed. The population gradually learned copper and silver metallurgy...

. The term cordwainer was used as early as 1100 in England. Historically, there was a distinction between a cordwainer, who made luxury shoes and boots out of the finest leathers, and a cobbler, who repaired them. This distinction gradually weakened, particularly during the twentieth century, when there was a predominance of shoe retailers who neither made nor repaired shoes.

In London, the occupation of cordwainers was historically controlled by the guild

Guild

A guild is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade. The earliest types of guild were formed as confraternities of workers. They were organized in a manner something between a trade union, a cartel, and a secret society...

 of the Worshipful Company of Cordwainers

Worshipful Company of Cordwainers

The Worshipful Company of Cordwainers is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. Cordwainers were workers in fine leather; the Company gets its name from "cordwain" , the white leather produced from goatskin in Cordova, Spain...

. There is a Cordwainer

Cordwainer (ward)

Cordwainer is a small ward in the City of London, England. It is named after the Cordwainers, the professional shoemakers who historically lived and worked in this particular area of London; there is a City livery company for the trade — the Worshipful Company of Cordwainers...

 ward of the City of London

City of London

The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...

, which is historically where most cordwainers lived and worked.

Until 2000, there had been a Cordwainer's Technical College in London. For over a hundred years the college has been recognised as one of the world's leading colleges for training cobblers and leather workers. The college produced some of the worlds' leading fashion design

Fashion design

Fashion design is the art of the application of design and aesthetics or natural beauty to clothing and accessories. Fashion design is influenced by cultural and social latitudes, and has varied over time and place. Fashion designers work in a number of ways in designing clothing and accessories....

ers, such as Jimmy Choo

Jimmy Choo

Dato' Jimmy Choo, OBE, born Choo Yeang Keat, is a Malaysian fashion designer based in London, United Kingdom. He is best known for founding Jimmy Choo Ltd that became known for its handmade women's shoes....

 and Patrick Cox

Patrick Cox

Patrick Cox is a Canadian–British fashion designer and an eponymous fashion label specializing in the creation of shoes, leather goods and accessories...

. Cordwainer's College was absorbed into the London College of Fashion

London College of Fashion

London College of Fashion is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London, offering undergraduate, postgraduate, short courses and business-training in fashion, make-up, beauty-therapy and lifestyle industries...

in 2000. The shoe design and accessories departments are still titled "Cordwainer's at London College of Fashion".