The new collection, priced at about 750 euros ($881) per pair according to Prada’s website, comes after the brand drew backlash during a Milan fashion show last year when it presented sandals resembling the centuries-old Kolhapuri chappal, a handcrafted leather footwear style originating in western India.

The designs triggered criticism from Indian artisans, politicians and cultural commentators, who accused the luxury label of cultural appropriation and failing to credit the traditional craft and the communities that have preserved it for generations.

Kolhapuri chappals, named after the city of Kolhapur in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, are known for their hand-stitched leatherwork and have been made by artisan families for centuries. The footwear received Geographical Indication (GI) status in India, recognizing its regional and cultural significance.

The controversy intensified as images from Prada’s runway circulated widely on social media, with critics arguing that luxury reinterpretations of traditional crafts without attribution or economic benefit to original makers reflected broader imbalances in the global fashion industry.

The latest launch signals an effort by Prada to respond to those concerns by linking production directly to Indian craftsmanship and explicitly positioning the sandals as Indian-made.

While Prada has not publicly detailed the scale of artisan involvement or sourcing arrangements, the move is being closely watched by both fashion industry observers and artisan groups as a test of how global luxury brands engage with heritage designs from non-Western markets.

India’s luxury and handicrafts sectors have increasingly pushed for stronger recognition of indigenous design traditions, particularly as global fashion houses draw inspiration from local textiles, embroidery and footwear styles.

For Indian artisans, the issue extends beyond aesthetics to economic participation and intellectual acknowledgment, especially when heritage crafts are translated into high-priced international luxury products.

At 750 euros a pair, the Prada sandals are positioned far above the price of traditional Kolhapuri chappals sold in local Indian markets, where handmade versions are often produced by small-scale artisans and family workshops.

The launch reflects a broader debate within luxury fashion over the line between inspiration and appropriation, and whether heritage crafts can be commercialized internationally without sidelining the communities that created them.

Police said the former insurgents had chosen to abandon armed struggle and rejoin civilian life as part of an ongoing nationwide effort to dismantle the final remnants of the Maoist movement.

The Telangana police said in a statement that 47 Maoist members had “chosen to join the mainstream,” adding that “almost all remaining underground key leaders have now been neutralized.”The surrender follows Home Minister Amit Shah’s declaration on March 30 that India had become “Naxal-free,” marking what the government described as the effective end of an insurgency that began nearly six decades ago.

The rebellion traces its origins to 1967 in Naxalbari, a village in West Bengal’s Himalayan foothills, where a peasant uprising inspired a Maoist movement that later spread across large parts of central and eastern India.

At its peak in the mid-2000s, the insurgency operated across what officials called the “Red Corridor,” stretching through mineral-rich and forested regions, with an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 fighters active across multiple states.

More than 12,000 people, including rebels, security personnel, and civilians, were killed during the conflict, according to official figures.The government intensified military and intelligence operations over the past two years, targeting the final strongholds of the insurgency in remote forest regions, particularly in Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Odisha, and parts of Maharashtra.

Authorities said surrendered rebels were being provided rehabilitation packages that included vocational training, financial support, and new civilian identities to facilitate reintegration into society.Police said the 47 former rebels would receive a combined rehabilitation package worth about $159,000, or roughly $3,400 each.

Officials have also appealed to remaining underground cadres to lay down their arms and take advantage of state rehabilitation schemes.Despite the decline of the insurgency, authorities face the continuing challenge of clearing hundreds of improvised land mines and explosive devices planted by Maoist groups along forest routes and remote villages.

The rebels had long claimed to be fighting for the rights of marginalized Indigenous communities in central India’s resource-rich tribal belts, where disputes over land rights, mining, and displacement remain politically sensitive.

Security analysts say that while organized armed resistance has sharply weakened, the social and economic grievances that originally fueled the movement continue to persist in several regions.

The latest surrenders reflect the government’s effort to convert military gains into long-term stability while preventing the possibility of renewed underground mobilization.

The proposed investments will target urban development, electric mobility, renewable energy and public infrastructure, according to the agreement. The initiative is expected to support the creation of tens of thousands of jobs over the next three to five years, although timelines for capital deployment were not disclosed.

As part of the plan, Vingroup is evaluating the development of integrated townships spanning about 1,000 hectares near Mumbai, with a projected investment of roughly $5 billion.

In the electric mobility segment, the group aims to deploy a fleet of 60,000 electric taxis, representing an additional investment of around $1.5 billion.The move builds on Vingroup’s growing presence in India, where its electric vehicle unit VinFast already operates a manufacturing facility in Tamil Nadu and has announced plans for a $3 billion ecosystem in Telangana.

Maharashtra accounts for approximately 14% of India’s gross domestic product and hosts a strong automotive manufacturing base, including major domestic players such as Mahindra and Mahindra and Tata Motors.