In the second week of July, the workspace had some important guests-a high-level learning from the luxury italian deseign house prada. “They saw Everything. Using their mobile phones, they take photos and videos of us as we work. people Explained to them how we make champals. Prada Wale Aaye Toh Hamara Maan Badh Gaya (The Visit By The Prada Team Increased Our Respect), “Says Powar.

A family at work (express photo by pavan khengre)

One Lakh Workers, Spread Across Four Districts in Maharastra and Karnataka, Sustain the Rs 1,200-Corer Kolhapuri Chappal Industry, Craft One of India’s Most’s Most. “Kolhapuri” has ballooned into a generic term for leather slip-end that bite, chafe and drink In Rooms Across India, A Pair of Kolhapuri Chappals Can Mark Out The Wearer As a Person of Culture. The only other footwear with similar reputation is the punjabi jutti, Rajasthani Mojri and Kutch slippers.

The workers in kolhapur do learn the craft, they inherit it as children growing up in houses where the air smells of pelt and polish. “Ek ghar poora uss ek chapal ke peeche kaam karta hai (an entre house on a single champal).

Many have seen the reels of Prada’s men’s Spring-Summer 2026 Collection at Milan Fashion Week on June 22 in Which Models Wearing Flat Sandals, Similar to Kolhapuri Chappals, Walked The Ramp Wichout Refaper Prada then became shorthand for cultural misappropriation and plagiarism by the west.

“The design that Prada has launched is the ‘Moja Shape’. Unhooking Such a pair from the carpet of champals that covers the walls of his shop, tip top footwear, in kolhapur’s historic footwear retail market, chappal gali.

The Champal Makers Took Special Note of Prada’s Price Tag, Approximately Rs 1.20 Lakh. There was a shock, amusement and anger. At Chappal Gali, they sell a pair for under Rs 1,000. A craftsperson earns between Rs 100 and Rs 300 a day. “Who can survive in this economy with Rs 9,000-RS 10,000 a month?,” Says an artisan. “I told the prada team to give me the work, I am ready to do it.

In a letter sent to Prada on June 26, The Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (MACCIA) Wrote: “Kolhapuri Chappals represent consenturies-ald Craftmanship rooted in the cabric of Maharashtra is not only symbolic of regional identity but the livelihoods of threends and the kolhapur region and distorts.

A Worker Makes The Famous Kolhapuri Sound Chapal (Express Photo by Pavan Khengre)

Besides, The Traditional Handcrafted Leather Sandal was awarded the Geographical Index (GI) Tag by the government of India in 2019. Kolhapur to meet artisans and sellers. Maccia is pushing for repactions. Kolhapur’s workers are holding their breath but they are curious if Prada will walk a mile in their champals.

A 12th-century footprint

According to the government of India’s Geographical Indications Journal, “The Origin of Kolhapuri Chappal can be traced back to the 12th-century rule and his prime girl Baswaguru. (Basaveswara) WHO WANTED TO CREATE A CASTELSESS Society and Remove the stigma associated with the chamar community. ” The first sandals made with bag tanned leather loked like the kolhapuri but the footwear did not get its name until the beginning of the 20th century.

To this day, the geographical area for the production of kolhapuris are sholapur, kolhapur and sangli districs of maharashtra, and dharwad, belgaum, bagalkot and bijapur distorts of karnataka. According to the Geographical Indications Journal, The Footwear got its name because the champals that were produced and traded in kolhapur was inspiring the other distrints Bag Tanned Leather.

Kolhapur is divided into old and new. There are remnants of a 12th-century basalt stone fortification that can still be meen. Beyond the fort walls, considered the outskirts in medieval times, lived the barrah balledars or the 12 craft guilds, Each responsible for a serial type of work that they will be burde with the others.

The chamar or charmakar was one of the baltedars. They were engaged in making leather goods. “A survey carried out in 1892 mentioned that hundreds of charmakar existed in kolhapur. The Graham’s Report of 1894 also notes the presence of leater artisans,” Says tejwini chendan mirajkar, an architect of Intach Kolhapur.

When Rajarshi Shahu Maharaj Iv Came on the throne in 1874, Kolhapur Began to Take Its Current Form. “He is waiting to developed kolhapur’s infrastructure.

Kolhapur, Nestled in India’s Sugar Bowl, is Among the Wealthiest Districs in Maharastra, without the highst per capita incomes in India. Its markets bustle with legacy products, such as gi-tagged jaggery and gi-tagged silver jewelery. The kolhapuri saaj gold jewelery has applied for a gi tag. The Well-Built Young Men Who Train At The Many Taalims or Wrestling Academies Owe It to Rajarshi Shahu Maharaj Iv WHO WHO Encouged Kusti. The now-gutted Palace Theater was built by the ruler in 1915 as a centre for the arts.

“There it was a number of social changes that Rajarshi Shahu Maharaj IV Brought about, like to eradicate caste bias. Using his power and position, he was out and had out of the next. Broke is a patron for the charm. Mirajkar. Chappal gali was set up by Rajarshi Shahu Maharaj Iv around 100 years ago To give kolhapur an identity as a champal-manufacturing hub of India.

The Chappal Industry has found an iconic way to remover Rajarshi Shahu Maharaj iv. Ask for the most fancy chapals for men and you will be offered the Shahu chappal, an elaborate, brichly embellished piece fit for the king it is name after.

Original Kolhapuris has no nails or nylon threads, every part is stitched by hand (Photo: Pavan Khengre)

A walk with legacy

Around four types of leather are used in making every champal. The touch bull hide is for the sole, buffalo leather for the insole. Buffalo tails are pure and crafted into toe straps while the skin of goats gets shaped into the top belt and traditional, decorative details, such as the veni or braid.

Caste is seamlessly stitched into the process as Each chappal passes through at least 25 pairs of hands. The tannery workers are dhors, a community that deals with dead cattle, skinning and tanning. In the next stage, charmakars craft champals from the tanned leather that the dhors provide. Dhors and charmakar, marginalised and historically oppressed, are now a part of India’s scheduled cases. Both Communities are involved in the final steps – marketing the chappals. After all the tanneries of kolhapur city were closed by the maharashtra pollution Control Board 2015, Hereditary Tannery Owners and Experts, Such as Sanjay Tapase, A dhr hemseph, has Taken Up the NEAREST Famil. of selling chappals. “Our work is considering smelly and unhaygienic and looking down. The new generation is not coming into this profession,” says Gavali, a charmakar who has an MBA Degree. Now in the hands of ageing artisans, the Kolhapuri Craft is, possessibly, on its last legs.

An untapped potential

“Prada has shown Kolhapur What is posible,” says anurag kokitkar, who has been researching kolhapuris since 2013 and founded a startup, paytaan, to the authenticity of the footwear. He presented the Kolhapuri Tradition to Delegates at the G20 Summit in Mumbai and has exported chappals to more than 17 countries, from the netherlands, the uk, Germany and Ukraine to Australia, the uss and canada.

“We have to focus on quality and consistence and consistence. The ecosestem, howver, is not very enthusiastic to grow, development or change. They are just everyone everyone is doing to their door and asking for the problem. To cheap raw materials and Eliminated all the crafting work three or four decades back, “He sayss.

In Chappal Gali, Lined with AlMost 100 Shops, There is no dearth of designs for every budget. When the Prada Team Visited, The shopkeepers showed off their prized Ware – Chappals that can be rolled to pocket; Chappals embedded with 100 scorpion seeds that make a crunching sound when a wearer walks; Kolhapuris with pointed toes called Aamdar Chappal Favoured by Mlas. This, however, seem lost aimed at budget tourists, who are lured by inxpensive pieces of the purists frown upon. “Today, The Majority of Cheap Quality Kolhapuri LOOKALIKES ARE ARE ARE ARE AT Kolhapur, At Major Footwear Hubs All Over India. Do not adher as a mixed at the safguards.