The Devil Wears Chappals: When Price Wins But Value Loses

Dear Insighter,

There’s appropriation, and then there’s Prada pricing your heritage at ₹1.2 lakh. The Italian fashion house recently showcased its version of Kolhapuri chappals on the Milan runway, prompting a mix of rage and ridicule. Only after the backlash did it acknowledge the “cultural significance of Indian craftsmanship.” But for artisans in Maharashtra, the bigger win came off-ramp: a local business body finally moved to protect Kolhapuri chappals from design infringement by branded knockoffs. While recognition matters, artisans say what they really need is sustained support, not runway shoutouts. Style theft may briefly inflate prices, but it’s rooted in a deeper disregard for provenance.

That disregard, as Nilesh Shah points out in his Market Makers interview, extends to our markets too. Whether it’s algorithmic traders or fleeting FDI, Shah warns against courting fair-weather friends at the cost of domestic resilience. With metaphors drawn from Chinese hospitals and Kodak film rolls, Shah makes one thing clear: without the right legal and capital structures, India’s markets are stuck choosing between “Tata or Batata.” Watch the full interview here.

Behind the scenes of India's financial strength, K. Srinivasa Rao warns, lie operational risks that can topple even the best-capitalised banks. From third-party tech dependencies to the opaque sprawl of digital ecosystems, India’s financial fortresses may still crumble if they ignore systemic vulnerabilities.

And as Sujit Kumar observes, the RBI seems to agree, quietly nudging banks out of long-term infrastructure credit. In their place? Specialised financial institutions now hold the reins, with the central bank recasting the financing choreography rather than rewriting the tune.

India’s capex push, Rajesh Kumar argues, is redefining fiscal orthodoxy itself. This is Keynesian stimulus in neoclassical clothing—capital investment that doubles as a stabiliser and signal of credibility. The trick is to keep spending transparent, outcomes measurable, and politicians away from the cookie jar.

On the macro front, early monsoon rains cooled India’s factories but cheered its farmers, as the BasisPoint Groupthink notes. While electricity demand and IIP took a hit, services are holding firm and bond yields are rising again, suggesting rate cuts may be behind us, even if recovery isn’t.

Abroad, negotiations between India and the US are entering their final stretch, with a July 8 deadline looming large. As Ajay Srivastava reports, a mini-deal is likely, but India’s resistance to GM foods and its defence of digital sovereignty could still scupper things. If trade is war by other means, Delhi seems determined not to surrender without reciprocity.

And it’s not the only front that matters. Krishnadevan V makes a compelling case that access to US supply chains could be India’s defence gamechanger. A reciprocal procurement agreement with Washington could open Pentagon doors long shut to Indian firms, if they can prove they’re not just procurement-ready, but innovation-strong.

But even the best-laid alliances can backfire. As Brahma Chellaney writes, recent US-Israel strikes on Iran may have delayed bomb-building—but also accelerated its political inevitability. When diplomacy dies, deterrence often finds nuclear teeth.

Saibal Dasgupta turns that war into a checklist—seven wake-up calls for countries like India, from R&D gaps to air-defence illusions. If Israel’s precision kills and Iran’s retaliation proved anything, it’s that modern warfare is less about troop numbers and more about telemetry and trust.

Back home, Trent’s ambitions have the stock market in rapture. Krishnadevan V dissects the Tata-owned retailer’s sprint across geographies and segments. But even as revenue multiplies and store count explodes, Trent may soon meet the math that humbles all—the law of large numbers.

Meanwhile, TCS seems to have chosen rigidity over reinvention. In Dev Chandrasekhar’s sharp read, its new 225 billable days diktat raises uncomfortable questions: is margin defence worth the burnout?

That tension is systemic. Kirti Tarang Pande warns that today’s teams don’t answer to bosses, they answer to algorithms. In creator economies and beyond, leadership has failed to evolve for the machine-mediated age. When KPIs are set by bots, human connection becomes the first casualty.

Which brings us to Srinath Sridharan, who reminds us that speed and spectacle are not substitutes for depth. Platforms may reward virality, but sustainable economies reward value.

But can we build economic resilience without radical transparency? Axel van Trotsenburg thinks not. With 54% of low-income countries nearing debt distress, hidden liabilities and opaque restructurings are ticking time bombs. Transparency, he argues, is the first step to rebuilding trust.

That transformation must begin with the young. Amitrajeet Batabyal highlights how India’s National Food Security Act has helped reduce child stunting and raised household incomes.

And for all our talk of systems, risk, and readiness, markets are still governed by emotion. Babuji K argues that Stoicism, not strategy, is what separates resilient traders from wrecked ones. Part two builds on that: patience, not passivity, is the secret weapon. The ability to wait with intent, to act with balance, to embrace risk without unraveling. A philosophy born in Athens. Perfected on the trading floor. And while Stoicism preaches restraint, the world's richest man prefers splurge.

Jeff Bezos’ estimated $55 million Venice wedding brought together Ivanka, Oprah, the Kardashians, and India’s own Natasha Poonawalla for a weekend of private gondolas, luxury lockdowns, and helicoptered hors d'oeuvres. Why? Because he can.

Just like Enrique Iglesias, Travis Scott, Steven Wilson, Passenger, and Northlane, who are all joining the post-Coldplay, post-Guns N’ Roses rush to perform in India. In this new age of hyper-consumption, even concerts are asset classes. The product is now the presence.

Until next week, may your worth never be a price tag.

Yours truly,

Phynix 

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