Kolhapur,
Kolhapuri chappal, one of India’s most prestigious traditional crafts, is becoming renewed not only in the domestic fashion world but also in international markets. An Italian brand Prada has been accused of misuse of this slippers.
This handmade leather sandal, famous for its complex workmanship and cultural heritage and status of geographical indicators (GI), is now available with an additional layer of protection and authenticity in the form of QR code. The credit goes to recent technology and legal innovation.
Officials of Maharashtra’s Leather Industry Development Corporation (Lidcom) said that the move aims to ban the sale of fake Kolhapuri chappals, to show the identity of artisans behind each product, increase consumers and strengthen the situation in the market of traditional artisans.
Recently, artisans protested against the inclusion of Kolhapuri chappal -like footwear in the new collection of Italy’s luxury fashion brand Prada, alleging violating GI rights.
After this controversy, Prada admitted that the sandals displayed in his men’s 2026 fashion shows were inspired by the traditional Indian handcuffed footwear. However, the brand has clarified in a reply to the Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce that the displayed sandal is in the design phase and has not yet confirmed their commercial production.
A team of experts from Prada visited Kolhapur earlier this month to interact with artisans and assess the local shoe-slippers manufacturing process.
This slippers, which has been running since the 12th century, has been mainly prepared in Kolhapur, Sangli and Solapur districts of Maharashtra. Their specific design made of naturally tanned leather and hand woven strips is preserved by generations of artisans.
It got a major boost in the early twentieth century when the visionary ruler Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj propagated it as a symbol of self -reliance and indigenous pride. He encouraged the use of these slippers, which helped develop rural crafts as a respected cottage industry.
To protect this cultural heritage and ensure proper recognition to artisans, the Maharashtra and Karnataka governments jointly achieved GI status for this in 2019.
Lidcom said in a statement that each pair has started QR-Code certification for slippers.
The purpose of this digital initiative is to deal with forgery and highlight the identity of the artisan or self -help group behind each product.
Buyers can get information like artisans or production unit name and place, construction districts in Maharashtra, craft technology and raw materials used in Maharashtra, validity and status of GI certification.
