When Prada’s Spring/Summer time 2026 menswear present closed in Milan final June, the applause barely died down and a riot broke out. The runway featured toe-loop leather-based sandals which can be certain to be acquainted to anybody who has walked the lanes of Kolhapur or browsed a handicraft truthful in Maharashtra.
However Prada’s present notes merely described them as “leather-based sandals,” with no point out of India or a nod to the Twelfth-century craft traditions they so freely borrowed from. Now, nearly a yr later, Prada is again with the identical silhouette. However this time, A very totally different story to inform.
The backlash was swift and loud. The Indian vogue group exploded. Artisans in western Maharashtra who make a residing making Kolhapuri chappals, generally incomes simply Rs 500 to Rs 1,000 per pair, had been livid to see their conventional product repackaged with out credit score at a worth of 750 euros (about Rs 70,000) per pair. MACCIA (Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture) has written a letter on to the model. The Indian Categorical earlier reported that BJP MP Dhananjay Mahadik led a delegation of artisans to fulfill Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and urge him to behave on what is taken into account a violation of the Geographical Indication Rights.
