The Kolhapuri

Kolhapuri sandals are a thousand-year-old craft from Kolhapur, India, handmade by generations of artisans. But at Milan Fashion Week 2025, Prada showcased sandals strikingly similar to Kolhapuris without crediting their origins or makers sparking outrage in India. Instead of protesting, Kalapuri, a house of artisans, chose a different response. We created The Kolhapuri, a handcrafted book , documenting the craft’s thousand-year journey and the artisans behind it. Sent as an invitation to Prada’s designers, the book offered a deeper understanding of the heritage and its makers.