A cordwainer is a shoemaker/cobbler who makes fine soft leather shoes and other luxury footwear articles. The word is derived from "cordwain", or "cordovan", the leather produced in Córdoba, Spain.

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 of the Worshipful Company of Cordwainers.

There is a ward in the City of London named Cordwainer which is historically where most cordwainers lived and worked.
Until 2000, there had been a Cordwainers' Technical College in London. For over a hundred years the college
had been recognised as one of the world's leading establishments for training shoemakers and leather workers.

The college produced some of the leading fashion designers such as Jimmy Choo and Patrick Cox. Cordwainers' College
was absorbed into the London College of Fashion in 2000. The shoe design and accessories departments
are still titled "Cordwainer's at London College of Fashion.