Prada accused of cashing in on Indian culture with Kolhapuri-inspired sandals | India
Prada admitted that the new leather sandals design was inspired by the famous Kolhapuri “Chappals, India, the handcrafted shoes known for its foot finger designs, after encountering criticism because it could not give credit to the origins of shoes.
Lorenzo Bertelli, Chief of Corporate Social Responsibility in the Italian Fashion House, wrote to Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce, “We accept sandals… He is inspired by traditional Indian handcrafted shoes with a century of heritage”.
After showing images from Prada’s Milan Runway show, Thousands of Kolhapuri complained on behalf of the manufacturer of Kolhapuri.
The President of the Chamber Lalit Gandhi said: “The collection includes shoe designs that are closely similar to the traditional handcrafted leather sandals, which were given the status of ‘geographical engür’ by the Indian government in 2019.”
The geographical indication label confirms that a product is caused by a certain place. The origins of the sandals return to the 12th century, to the city of Kolhapur in Western Maharashtra.
Determining braided T-Kayışları and Manda Hide shoes are worn by everyone from farmers to thousands of years and business leaders.
Last week, the vision of the models walking on the track in shoes, which were defined as “Leather Flat Sandals”, triggered a widespread reaction and “cultural allowance” charges in India.
It is a wider debate about how global fashion houses frequently reconstruct traditional labor as luxury goods without credit or compensation to original craftsmen.
Sandals, known for their durability, sell up to $ 12 (£ 8.75) and Prada sandals are selling up to $ 800. Indian craftsmen Harsh Goenka, President of the Pharmaceuticals-to-Holding RPG group, are the President of the Pharmaceuticals-Holding RPG group.
As the photographs of the show spread online, the anger of India was mounted. “One of the dusty strips of Kolhapur, Milan’s flamboyant tracks… Will the world finally give loans where it comes?” He asked his DNA for the news output in X.
Gandhi asked Prada to look for ways for “cooperation or fair compensation .. Bertelli said the sandals are still in the “early” design phase, but Prada was willing to open a dialogue for meaningful change with local Indian craftsmen.
“Indian craftsmen and small -scale manufacturers may rarely reach capital or business intelligence,“ he said in India’s economic Times.
Kumar, “New Sandals series ‘Kolhapuris’ by calling Prada, guilty of making money from cultural allowance,” he said.
Nevertheless, some believe that the queue can be unexpected. Sandals have been a plateau in India in recent years, but local designers believe that spotlight can increase the interest in classical design, especially among young consumers.
“So far, it has not been seen as a part of the ‘cool’ or willing shoe field in India’s luxury market orum I really believe in the fluctuation effect of Prada’s actions.”
Mann may be right. Since Prada’s runway, Google Trends has increased in search of Kolhapuri sandals according to local media and reported that the retailer has increased.
