The Kolhapuri never went out of style in India, even though it just got its Prada runway moment

At Prada’s Spring Summer 2026 menswear show, the Kolhapuri strolled in, calm and unbothered, under cotton poplins and colourful raffia hats. No embellishment, no twist. A flat leather sandal in its elemental form, like it had been pulled straight from a street in Kolhapur, Maharashtra and dropped into a Milanese moodboard.

To call it a moment of revival would be lazy. In India, the Kolhapuri has never gone out of style. It’s the rare accessory that has crossed rituals, errands and runways without once losing relevance. The only thing seasonal about it is the monsoon, during which any self-respecting wearer knows to switch to rubber. By the 1970s, it had already stepped into the West’s counterculture wardrobe, carried along by the freewheeling spirit of the hippie movement.

MUMBAI (BOMBAY), INDIA – MARCH 28: Model Milind Soman walks the runway for the ‘MAI MUMBAI’ show, a ‘Fashion for Relief’ initiative by DREAM by Vikram Chatway Hotels for the relief of the Terrorist Attack victims in Mumbai at the Lakme India Fashion Week Autumn/ Winter 2009, at Grand Hyatt on March 28, 2009 in Mumbai, India. (Photo by Ritam Banerjee/Getty Images)

Ritam Banerjee/Getty Images

What keeps it current? Possibly the fact that it doesn’t try. The Kolhapuri is handmade. Sun-dried. GI tagged since 2019. And still crafted by artisans across eight districts in Maharashtra and Karnataka, who continue to stitch legacy into every pair.

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