handmade footwear
india

 

Following footwear was developed with kolhapuri artisans of Karnataka

 

The footwear explores a bi-cultural identity by assimilating features from modern sports footwear and traditional kolhapuri slippers to develop a transformative product language

 

Traditional semantic elements improvised in an attempt to create a 'mix and match' category

 

 

Detail of weaving technique above the heel

 

SALIENT FEATURES:

_ non powered village production

_ upper material - bag tan leather (buffalo)

_lace material - goat leather

_sole material - composite of moulded rubber and buffalo leather

_ inner lining - foam and denim fabric

_ hardware - brass

_use of locally available herbs to create colour and textural variations

_ customization with toe cap, laces and hardware options at shop floor level

 

special thanks to Toe Hold Artisans collaborative, Athani and IIT Powai

This project is being used for a research initiative, titled 'Bi-Cultural Identities in products', at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay.

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