Fluorescent patterns, chunky designs, raw pop-art and even some flower power from the 60’s – yeah, these are some of the themes that these talented custom art creators love to design their footwear around! A plethora of options lay ahead of them as they get working on heels and sneakers, trying to reflect their customers’ personality onto them.
Chappers India
Launched last October, what is unique about Chappers is that they are completely hand-crafted. “Our inspiration for Chappers has always been the classic Kolhapuri chappal,” says Harshwardhan Patwardhan, Founder, Chappers India. The word Chappers is an amalgamation of two words; chappals and slippers. “So we are fusing together the look of the chappal and the comfort of the slipper,” says Harshwardhan. “We are proud of the fact that we pay our karigars three times the labour charges of what they would have got for a pair of Kolhapuri’s.”
Most challenging project: We are working on creating a pair of Chappers which will glow in the dark.
Most unique requests: Girls want men’s Chappers in smaller sizes, men want pink Chappers with spikes, Chappers for babies, Chappers for dogs and many such crazy requests.
Famous customers: Priya Dutt, Nitin Kareer, Chief Secretary of Urban Development of Maharashtra and author Varun Agarwal.
Spirited Soles
Spirited Soles kick-started in the year 2011, at Sunday Soul Sante when Anis Salim the creative head unveiled their first set of unique hand painted shoes. There has been no looking back with exhibitions in Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai, Nepal and Bangladesh.
“The idea and uniqueness of the product is the key,” says Anis. “The art-work creates individuality in each pair. Each shoe goes through a rigorous process. Each design is carefully selected amongst hundreds of different art-work and colours.” Shoes follow a different pattern of colouring based on the art-work. High-grade acrylic paints are then modified to create a better feel on the shoe fabric. The same are applied and dried. Once the art work dries, a protective layer is put over the pair to make them chip and water resistant, and give a glossy finish. “Our designs are inspired by personalities, appealing images or icons. We draw our inspiration from our surroundings and nature. The company aims to come up with products that people can relate to and “must” own.
Most challenging project: Everything new is a challenge when you do it for the first time.
Most unique requests: People like to have a personal touch incorporating names, dates and may be sketches of important moments of their life.
Famous customers: We have made shoes for few of the famous ladies in Tollywood since I was based in Kolkata.
Shailee’s handpainted shoes
What started out as a hobby for Shailee Adke, soon turned into something that would bring her friends and well-wishers from all around the globe. After painting t-shirts and shoes, Shailee started Shailee’s Custom Painted Shoes as an online business just over two years ago. “When I started, I used to get orders from friends and friends of friends through word of mouth, mostly in Bangalore. But now, I get orders from all over the world.”
“Both shoes are completely different. I don’t make mirror images or follow symmetry in my shoes.”
Most challenging project: There was a request from a teenage girl in Hyderabad who was a huge fan of Harry Potter. She specifically wanted The Deathly Hallows theme. Since I had never seen ‘The Tale of Three Brothers’ on shoes, I asked her if I could illustrate the tale on her shoes.”
Most unique requests: It is not a strange one, but once a friend asked me to refurbish her wedges. She wanted something colourful and the only thing she told me was the 60s. So I did a flower power themed shoe for her.
Famous customers: I recently painted a T-shirt for choreographer Feroz Khan.
Mana Santhanam
While still in school, Mana found an old pair of shoes that needed saving. After some tweaking and brightening, the shoe looked as good as newA few years later, Mana resurrected her love affair with art painting shoes, t-shirts and even college notebooks. This time around, her friends started asking her to customise for them. “And with those requests came the realisation that I could do this for more people,” says Mana. “No two products I make are ever alike. They're personalised based on the person they’re meant for, so there’s always some defining element that makes each one stand out from the rest.” Most challenging projects: I don’t think I can pick just one. But If I could think of interesting projects to paint on, I have done Ukeleles, flutes, father-son t-shirts, reading glasses, dresses and of course a whole bunch of shoes ranging from sneakers to high heels. For Mana, the particularly interesting ones have been the music group themes. “I love music myself, and these orders have been some of my own personal favourites like Daft Punk, Iron Maiden and Pearl Jam.
