India’s open-footwear market has long been dominated by affordability and functionality. Sliders, sandals, V-straps, and clogs have often been treated as products for home use or casual convenience, rather than as part of a consumer’s everyday style and comfort needs.
Yashesh Mukhi, Founder of Chupps Footwear, believes this perception is changing. With a family background in footwear and professional experience in finance, he is building Chupps Footwear as a comfort-led, design-forward open-footwear brand that aims to make premium-quality products accessible to a wider Indian consumer base. In this conversation with Indian Startup Times, Yashesh shares his entrepreneurial journey, Chupps Footwear’s product philosophy, the company’s approach to sustainable materials, and his view of where India’s footwear industry is headed.
A Founder Shaped by Footwear and Finance
Yashesh grew up in a business family with deep roots in the footwear industry. His family’s association with Nike as its first regional partner in India gave him early exposure to the importance of product quality, brand building, and distribution. His professional experience in finance added another dimension to his entrepreneurial perspective. It taught him to evaluate opportunities critically, understand business economics, and approach growth with discipline. During his time in the United States, he noticed how casual, comfortable footwear had become an integral part of everyday dressing. He believed India would eventually move in a similar direction as lifestyles, disposable incomes, and consumer aspirations evolved. “I wanted to build a brand that could transform everyday open footwear into a desirable lifestyle product without making comfort or quality a luxury.” However, India’s open-footwear market was largely concentrated at the value end, with limited options combining premium comfort, contemporary design, and accessible pricing. Chupps Footwear was born from that gap.
Changing How India Views Open Footwear
For a long time, open footwear in India was associated primarily with home use or basic functionality. Consumers had plenty of affordable options, but relatively few products combined everyday comfort, distinctive styling, and quality materials at accessible prices. Chupps Footwear is working to challenge that perception by approaching sliders, sandals, V-straps, and clogs as lifestyle products rather than occasional necessities. The brand’s designs consider how people actually live—whether they are commuting, travelling, meeting friends, recovering after sport, or simply going about their day. “Our ambition is to make open footwear a natural and confident choice for everyday life.” Chupps Footwear focuses on contemporary silhouettes, relevant colours, comfortable footbeds, and functional technologies that make its products suitable for multiple occasions. According to Yashesh, the pandemic accelerated the shift towards casual dressing, but the change is more permanent. Consumers increasingly want footwear that feels effortless without looking basic.
Comfort, Design, and Accessibility Together
For Chupps Footwear, comfort, design, and accessibility are not competing priorities. A successful product, according to Yashesh, needs to deliver all three. The company begins with an understanding of the consumer. Its design process incorporates customer feedback, sales insights, emerging trends, and inputs from retail and distribution partners. These ideas are translated into physical prototypes at the Chupps Innovation Centre (CIC), where the team evaluates appearance, fit, comfort, and performance before moving towards production. Chupps Footwear’s product technologies focus on specific consumer needs, including cushioning, anatomical contouring, shock absorption, grip, and lightweight construction. Depending on the product, the brand uses innovations such as Ergo-X and PowerGrip comfort-focused sole systems. The company also works closely with manufacturing partners to achieve the required quality while keeping prices accessible. “Good design should feel comfortable, innovative footwear should remain practical, and premium experiences should be available beyond the luxury segment.”
TruZero BioFoam: Sustainability With Transparency
Chupps Footwear uses TruZero™ BioFoam technology in selected products. The material is designed to break down within 24 months after disposal under suitable conditions. Conventional EVA-based footwear materials can remain in the environment for extended periods after disposal. TruZero™ BioFoam reflects Chupps Footwear belief that product responsibility should extend beyond the period of use. The company has worked on proprietary material formulations designed to accelerate biodegradation under suitable landfill conditions while maintaining cushioning, strength, and durability during everyday use. Yashesh is careful to explain that biodegradation depends on specific environmental conditions, including microbial activity, moisture, and temperature. It is not an identical process across every disposal environment. “Environmental claims should be supported by measurable evidence and communicated transparently rather than as unconditional promises.” Chupps Footwear development process involves testing and refining material formulations for both functional performance and behaviour under defined biodegradation test conditions.
Comfort Is Becoming the Primary Purchase Driver
Indian consumers are increasingly prioritising comfort, casual dressing, and versatility. According to Yashesh, comfort is becoming a primary purchase consideration rather than an added benefit. Consumers want products that transition easily between different parts of their day. They are also becoming more informed about design, functionality, and the values represented by the brands they purchase. This is influencing how Chupps Footwear develops its collections. The company is investing in comfort technologies, versatile silhouettes, improved materials, and specialised footwear for different use cases. Over the next five years, Yashesh sees three particularly promising opportunities:
- Everyday comfort footwear.
- Recovery-focused products.
- Children’s footwear.
He also expects greater demand for lightweight, water-friendly, and easy-care footwear suited to Indian conditions. At the same time, consumers will increasingly expect brands to be transparent about product quality and environmental claims. “The distinction between functional and fashion footwear will continue to narrow.”
Sport, Recovery, and Brand Credibility
Sport has always been personally important to Yashesh Mukhi. Playing competitive sports during his school and college years taught him perseverance, discipline, and the importance of consistent performance. That mindset is reflected in Chupps Footwear’s approach to product development and brand positioning. The company’s sporting associations, including collaborations within the cricket ecosystem, allow it to connect with consumers who understand the importance of comfort, recovery, and functional performance. Its association with cricketer Ajinkya Rahane is particularly meaningful. Beyond brand visibility, Rahane’s perspective as a professional athlete can inform Chupps Footwear thinking around recovery footwear and product development. “The objective is not just to create awareness. It is to build credibility, learn from relevant sporting experiences, and translate those insights into products that offer genuine everyday benefits.” These collaborations also help introduce Chupps Footwear to audiences who may initially associate the brand with lifestyle footwear rather than performance-driven comfort.
Omnichannel Retail: Digital Discovery, Offline Trust
Digital platforms have played an important role in helping Chupps Footwear build awareness, reach consumers across markets, and understand purchasing behaviour. However, footwear is a highly tactile category. Consumers want to feel the material, assess cushioning, try different sizes, and experience the fit before making a decision. This makes offline retail an important part of Chupps Footwear long-term strategy. The company is strengthening its presence through distribution partners, multi-brand retailers, large-format stores, and its own exclusive brand outlets, including a store at R City Mall in Mumbai. As it expands, Chupps Footwear is focusing on selecting locations that offer the right consumer profile, visibility, and commercial potential. “Online provides convenience, discovery, and reach, while physical stores build trust through direct product experience.” The objective is to create a consistent Chupps Footwear experience wherever the customer chooses to shop.
Building a Brand With Financial Discipline
One of Chupps Footwear biggest challenges has been building a differentiated product offering within an industry traditionally structured around low-cost, high-volume manufacturing. India has tremendous footwear manufacturing capacity, but much of that infrastructure has historically served the value segment. Access to premium components, specialised materials, and advanced manufacturing capabilities is still evolving. Raw material sourcing has been particularly challenging, especially when balancing performance, consistency, innovation, and cost. The second challenge is building a brand while remaining commercially disciplined. Customer acquisition, marketing, inventory, distribution, and working capital all need to be managed carefully. Yashesh’s finance background has made him particularly conscious of unit economics and the importance of profitable, sustainable growth. “Building a successful consumer brand is not about chasing growth at any cost. It is about creating a business that consumers trust and that can remain relevant and financially healthy over the long term.” Chupps Footwear approach is to invest in products that genuinely differentiate the brand, maintain strong quality controls, use customer feedback to improve its assortment, and expand distribution thoughtfully.
Making Sustainability Mainstream
Yashesh believes sustainability needs to move from being a marketing conversation to becoming a measurable part of product development. Brands should evaluate the materials they use, their manufacturing processes, packaging, product durability, and what happens when a product reaches the end of its useful life. “If a brand communicates biodegradability, it should be transparent about the conditions, timeframe, and methodology behind that claim.” The commercial challenge is equally important. India is a value-conscious market, and more responsible products will only achieve meaningful adoption if they are accessible to a broad consumer base. Chupps Footwear work with TruZero™ BioFoam is guided by this philosophy: improving end-of-life material performance while preserving everyday functionality and affordability. Greater material innovation, scale, reliable sourcing, and stronger waste-management systems will all be essential for making sustainability mainstream. “Sustainability becomes meaningful when it is built into the product and business model rather than being treated as a premium feature available only to a small segment of consumers.”
India’s Opportunity in Footwear
India has a significant opportunity to become a stronger global player in contemporary casual and open footwear. The country already has manufacturing scale, entrepreneurial talent, and a large domestic consumer base. As incomes rise and lifestyles evolve, demand for better-designed, higher-quality footwear will continue to create opportunities. However, competing in higher-value categories will require a stronger manufacturing ecosystem. Much of India’s existing infrastructure is optimised for lower-priced footwear, and access to advanced materials, premium components, specialised technology, and consistent quality remains a challenge. “More investment in product research, material innovation, manufacturing capabilities, and workforce skills would help Indian brands move up the value chain. Yashesh also sees substantial export potential, particularly in developed markets where consumers are willing to pay for comfort, design, and quality. On the consumer side, education will become increasingly important. People need clearer information about product performance, materials, and sustainability claims. If India combines its cost competitiveness with stronger innovation and manufacturing capabilities, Indian footwear brands can build a much more influential global presence.
Lessons for Consumer Brand Founders
For aspiring entrepreneurs looking to build consumer-facing brands in India, Yashesh Mukhi shares three key lessons. The first is to identify a genuine consumer gap rather than simply follow an existing trend. When Chupps Footwear started, India already had a large open-footwear market. The opportunity was not to introduce another pair of slippers, but to address the absence of stylish, comfortable, premium-quality products at accessible prices. The second is to invest in meaningful product differentiation. Branding can attract initial attention, but the product must deliver on its promise. Whether it is comfort, functionality, design, or material innovation, the consumer should be able to experience the difference. The third is to earn trust through consistency. A consumer brand is built over repeated interactions. Product quality, transparent communication, customer service, and reliability all matter. “The strongest brands are those that solve a real problem, remain committed to their purpose, and continuously improve based on what their consumers tell them.”
The Road Ahead for Chupps Footwear
Chupps Footwear’s long-term vision is to become one of India’s most loved and largest open-footwear brands. Yashesh wants the company to lead the transformation of open footwear from an everyday necessity into a category defined by comfort, innovation, design, and responsible product development. Over the next three to five years, Chupps Footwear priorities include:
- Expanding its omnichannel presence.
- Strengthening distribution across India.
- Building a larger network of exclusive brand outlets.
- Developing recovery footwear and advanced cushioning technologies.
- Expanding functional sandals, women’s collections, and children’s footwear.
- Continuing material innovation for better performance and end-of-life outcomes.
- Exploring international markets where demand for comfort-led casual footwear is growing.
Beyond business milestones, Yashesh wants Chupps Footwear to represent a new generation of Indian consumer brands: ambitious in scale, distinctive in design, and uncompromising in the value they deliver. “Our ultimate ambition is simple: when someone thinks of comfortable, stylish open footwear, Chupps Footwear should be one of the first names that comes to mind.”
Interview By: Sejal Thakur
