When was the last time you wore a pair of authentic Kolhapuris with pride and gave your ballet flats a slip? Perhaps it’s time. The losing legacy of the traditional footwear is what had Bengaluru-based corporate trainer, Sakshi Chhabra reinventing the classic, albeit with a twist. Hers come with everything from striking pom poms, gota, silk, laces, the fun ghungroo and mirrors even. The best part? No one pair is the same, something you can probably see at her display in Kitsch Mandi today.
“My feet lived in a pair Kolhapuris through my entire student life,” a nostalgic Sakshi tells us. Upon searching high and low in the streets of Bengaluru and failing to find an authentic pair, this 32-year-old made it her mission to revive the rich but dying artistry and thus was born her Pepper Bag Girl.
“I truly feel with globalisation, plenty of mass manufactured products have flooded our Indian market. Amidst all this glitterati, our small scale industries are shadowed,” she observes.
Sakshi’s artistic flair was a natural for her. “Having grown up in a large family my cousins, my sister and I always saw a friendly competition at Diwali, weddings and every big occasion. I learnt to use different fabric and colours very comfortably. My secret wasn’t in wearing a show-stopper dress but in accessorising with custom made jewelry and a pair of fabulous shoes,” she says.
Customisation in her business, was thus an obvious choice. “Ladies tell me their preference and I make it my mission to translate that idea into a perfect pair. Men accompanying their wives or friends have often asked me if there’s anything for them and now there are,” she smiles, as she introduces handcrafted pairs not just for both men and women, but across age groups.
Authenticity is another thing that she didn’t want to compromise on and made the workshops in Kolhapur her second home. “I collaborate with shoe makers who have been in the business there for more than three generations. And they are very open to new ideas, translating them perfectly too,” she says about the pieces that range from Rs 900 for a customised version that she sells through her Facebook page.
When her feet aren’t in a pair of Kolhapuris going about the day’s business, Sakshi enjoys taking up DIY projects around the house. “I also love travelling as a tourist and meeting new people. I’m also an easy prey for every new café in town,” she quips, even as she plans to expand her products and play with a lot more colour this season.
