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Business Standard

After global misstep, Italian luxury brand Prada walks into Kolhapur

A four-member team from Italian luxury brand Prada visited Kolhapur in Maharashtra on Tuesday and Wednesday to understand the craft of making the Kolhapuri chappal. The team included Paolo Tiveron, director of the men's technical and production department — footwear division; Daniele Contu, pattern-making manager — footwear division; and external consultants Andrea Pollastrelli and Roberto Pollastrelli. Prior to their visit, the team had an online meeting on July 11 with executives from the Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce, Industry & Agriculture (MACCIA). During their two-day visit, the team toured four clusters in and around Kolhapur where Kolhapuri chappals are made, including Subhash Nagar, Jawahar Nagar, Kandalgaon, and Kagal village — the last of which is home to a cluster of women artisans. The visit comes in the wake of a controversy surrounding Prada's Spring/Summer 2026 collection, which featured models wearing footwear resembling Kolhapuri chappals during Milan Fashion Week last month. The sandals, priced at around ~1 lakh, drew backlash for failing to credit India as the source of inspiration. 'The team from Prada has been in India for the last two days to evaluate our production facilities. While their standards are very different from ours, they will return to Italy and issue a report on the same,' Lalit Gandhi, president of MACCIA, told Business Standard. Gandhi added that, if all goes well, Prada's business team will visit Mumbai in August to discuss how to move the proposal forward. MACCIA has also recommended that Prada consider adding four more Maharashtra-origin products to its catalogue, including traditional jewellery from the region. In June, MACCIA had written to Prada regarding the use of the Kolhapuri chappal in its fashion show. In response, Prada said: 'We acknowledge that the sandals featured in the recent Prada Men's 2026 Fashion Show are inspired by traditional Indian handcrafted footwear with a centuries-old heritage. We deeply recognise the cultural significance of such Indian craftsmanship.' The letter further said: 'We are committed to responsible design practices, fostering cultural engagement, and opening a dialogue for meaningful exchange with local Indian artisan communities —as we have done in past collection s— to ensure rightful recognition of their craft.' Separately, the Bombay High Court on Wednesday dismissed a public interest litigation filed against Prada for its alleged use of the Kolhapuri chappal design. The plea had argued that the chappal is protected as a Geographical Indication under the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act. (With inputs from PTI)