A shoe-making brand that promises conscious fashion for your feet, Desi Hangover is your desi go for handwoven leather shoes.
With a vision of reviving the long-lost craft of shoe making, fun engineering, economics and marketing graduates, Mr. Hitesh Kenjali, Ms. Abha Agarwal, Mr. Omkar Pandharkame and Mr. Lakshya Arora set up Desi Hangover – a brand that focuses on Conscious Fashion, Social Entrepreneurship and Conscious Consumerism.
The Backstory
Team Desi Hangover partnered with the artisans at a village 100 kilometers from Belgaum, Karnataka, India to create a brand that would amplify the lives of artisans by creating a globally acclaimed, environmentally conscious product.
Artisans at Desi Hangover use ethically sourced, upcycled leather from the wastes laid off by the meat industry. They use Barks of the Sal tree and Turmeric to tan the shoes they call – Desis, to enhance their color and shine. The shoes are all handmade by artisans who have mastered shoemaking using traditional methods that require precision and expertise.
With a dedicated team of designers working in collaboration with skilled-artisans, Desi Hangover strives to make their creations relevant by combining traditional craftsmanship with contemporary design.
The goal is to create a new market for handwoven leather shoes, and to reignite hope in the future of this profession.
Recommended Story – Chamba Chappals of Himachal Pradesh
What is conscious consumerism?
Often brands use Conscious Fashion to indicate the efforts taken by them to create minimal damage to the ecosystem. Desi Hangover believes that such brands have got it all wrong and that Conscious Fashion is when the consumer is fully aware of every initiative and investment made towards creating a soulful and sustainable fashion statement – hence their holistic approach to running business, sustainable business and conscious consumerism.
Paving the way!
Upon establishing a small manufacturing unit in the village, Team Desi Hangover took it upon them to uplift the life of the artisans in all ways possible – they opened bank accounts for them, helped them receive healthcare support and educated them on micro-finance.
Besides Conscious Fashion, the brand focuses on the UN Sustainable Development Goals – Quality Education, Gender Equality, Responsible Consumption and Partnership for the Goals.
The brand has gone well beyond fashion and help out in areas such as –
- Adoption of Adarsh School along with funding their education
- Building shoe making teams that boast a 50-50 partnership of men and women artisans
- Connecting with several distributors globally, to help sustain more artisan families.
Not without challenges….
Right from scouting International Markets to travelling across India to locate and target the markets that were welcoming their product, Desi Hangover has come a long way.
Inexpensive alternatives : One of the major challenges faced by Team Desi Hangover in Indian Markets was the inexhaustible leather products that are cheap and are considered to be cost saving alternatives by the masses.
Time consuming : Added to the mix was the issue with the time it took for the shoes to be made – Since they were keen on using ethically sourced and upcycled leather, the process of shoe making was long drawn.
Maintaining morale : The team strived to maintain morale by constantly ensuring the artisans that they were invested in the well being of the artisans and their families.
Team Desi Hangover is doing their best but they could use help….
Do your bit, Here’s you chance!
If you are someone that would like to support their vision – Desi Hangover largely accepts online orders. However, they do a wide spread store presence right from Singapore to Malaysia to the United States.
For all the no-buying-without-trying Desi gang, Desi Hangover has multiple stores located at Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Gujarat, Pune and Chandigarh. To find the nearest store check out https://www.desihangover.in/more-stores/#india-stores
Happy Shopping! 🙂
Also Read – Indian Footwear from different parts of the country
