The Legal Meltdown of Prada and Kolhapuri: GI Loopholes, IP Vulnerabilities, Cultural Appropriation and a Strategic Transition from Foreign Extraction to Local Sneaker Production

Indian Artisanship, Cultural Appropriation, Commodification, Consumerism, Indigenous Fashion Identities, Ethical Fashion Collaborations.

Following the 2025 Kolhapuri Chappal Controversy by Prada, this paper explores how international luxury brands engage in the couture theft of Indian artisanal products into premium high-end products. Perceived through GI loopholes, IP vulnerabilities, and cultural appropriation; this practice of couture brands are a neo-colonial tactic expressing how Western markets fetishize and glorify these products, while local artisans who create them remain marginalized and sidelined, creating a cultural/economic vulnerability. This research traverses the physical and epistemic circuits through which Kolhapuri Chappals and likened artisanal artifacts are de-colonized and repackaged across luxury and fast-fashion trajectories. Archival knowledge, visual and marketing critiques, interviews of craftsmen/craftswomen and brand founders, governmental protections via GI tags and IPs, are taken under consideration following the examination of commodification, appropriation and identity struggle of Indian artisanship and fashion. The research counteracts with the emergent tides of homegrown brands, prominently Gully Labs and Comet that attempt to capture due representation in a global marketplace, eventually concluding with a meaningful discussion on the ills of cultural appropriation and GI tag policies, widening the prospects of all-around innovation across the sectors concerned.