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Size 40 Jutti, a style similar to the Pakistani Khussa. These a delicate and brightly colored floral slippers are a great way to keep the hopeful spring time fodder alive during the cold winter months. Made with vegetable tanned leather, padded insole and metallic thread stitching.
The Khussa is is traditional style of slipper shoe worn in Pakistan and North India, originally made with flat wooden soles. This was likely a tradition acquired from China. Over time, the style and construction was improved to provide protection from dirt and cold weather. This particular pair is very comfortable and wearable.
From Khussa as an Eco-Friendly Footwear Form by Asmarah Ahmad:
"In the Pakistani market Chamberlāin near Chowk Gowālmāndi, the vendors of the local market give an insight into the manufacturing of leather locally. The information was given by Lahori Khussa Mahal near Taxāli Gate, Lahore that the material leather is known as Chmṛā locally and the cow leather is called Gocā. For the manufacturing of Khussa in Lahore, leather is tanned in Kasur and then supplied to the cottage industries. Similar pattern of working is used all across Pakistan where small districts tan the leather and then it is transported to the cottage industries where it is manufactured and then supplied to the big cities for the market. The most commonly used process for leather used in Khussa making is Vegetable tanning. For
this method hides and skins which have underwent the delimed process are treated in a liquid of tannin made up of vegetable substances. These tannins are extracted from barks, fruits, woods or leaves. Such materials are known as tanstuffs from which the tannins are extracted. Water is used to extract the tannins from the tanstuffs (6). Concentrated vegetable extracts are used in the modern procedures of vegetable tanning.
"In the Old Lahore, Chamberlain Road the storage space for the product of Khussa is known as the Gāudām (17) locally. It is a little away from the shop or the display center. There are only a few retailers of Khussa who own their own workshops and these are a part of the storage area. Mostly the retailers are in the main city centers like Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar. The making of Khussa is done separately in small cities or districts like Multan, Sāngālaand Kasur etc. Similarly in Sindh, the main centers are Karachi and Hyderabad which are the selling point, yet they are made by artisans from small tribes. The whole family is mostly involved in the process, where the men do the structural work of the shoe form with hand, while the female mostly make the ornamentation on the. upper of the Khussa.
"At present economy of Pakistan in terms of (PPP) which stands for Purchasing Power Parity is twenty fifth largest entity in the global arena and in the nominal gross domestic product market it is ranked on the forty second number. In 2018 the population of Pakistan is over 200 million, providing a nominal GDP per capita of $1,641.
"Initially Khussa was meant to be a leather slipper for the nawabs or the early Mughals. As the word slipper implies it was designed specifically for indoor environments. It was designed as a cover in which the foot could easily slip in. Luxury that was intended for the feet to suit the hot climate of the subcontinent region. As socially Khussawas intended to be a luxurious item so its outlook was highly ornamented and as the indoor activities that were being subjected to the Mughals or the Nawabs were the royal feasts or the weddings not the wars, these Khussas were bound to generate a certain grandeur. An example of such decoration are the diamond studded slippers possessed by avazir’s wife Jafar Khan in the court of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb (37).
"The target group changed from the royal to the more general public who were politicians, professionals, commoners, youth and the adults. The market of the twentieth century was highly demanding. With a variety of footwear in the market it became harder for the manufacturers to
retain the value of Khussa same as it held previously. In an interview with the owner of the Khussa Mehāl in Lahore he stated that they also had to modify the price range, designs and the comfort of the shoe according to the demand of the customer. As the consumer now had choices, shoes which were being easily mass produced with machines like stitching machines, sole attaching machines etc.
"The extensive range of the Khussa styles echoes the set strata of the Pakistani society, since social standing dictated that what panache and flamboyance was reserved for the elites even in the case of Khussa...They are worn as a fashion trend in the urban centers and traditional custom in the rural areas."
