The Kolhapuri.
When Prada showed sandals that looked like Kolhapuris without crediting their makers, artisan house Kalapuri answered with a handcrafted book on the craft and sent it to Prada's designers.
- Brand
- Kalapuri
- Agency
- VML India
- Market
- India
- Region
- Global
- Year
- 2025
The challenge
Kolhapuri sandals are a craft around a thousand years old from Kolhapur. Prada's 2025 Milan menswear show featured near-identical sandals with no mention of where they came from, which caused outrage in India while the artisans themselves stayed invisible.
The idea
Instead of joining the criticism, Kalapuri and VML India made a handcrafted book documenting the history of the Kolhapuri and the artisans who make it, and sent it to Prada's design team as an invitation to learn about the tradition. The work put the makers, not the controversy, at the centre of the story.
Case study source: D&AD Source ↗
Awards
- D&AD Awards 2026 Wood Pencil
Credits
- Creative agency and design agency
- VML India
- Production
- Believe
- Production
- Ducktape Studios
- Production
- Reproscan
- Group Chief Creative Officer, VML India
- Kalpesh Patankar
- Senior Copywriter, VML India
- Amey Gharat
- Senior Copywriter, VML India
- Sujay Joshi
