Bata Ups Its Fashion Quotient

At the Bata Fashion Weekend in Milan, MW caught up with country manager Sandeep Kataria, to learn more about the unique event, and how the iconic brand is cashing in on nostalgia, while also increasingly engaging with its consumers.

- Kushal Parmanand

An invite to the Bata Fashion

Weekend in Milan had me wondering what to expect. Growing up, I had always assumed that Bata was an Indian brand — I would go on to discover, at the event, that people from other countries had thought it to be their own too. The extravaganza is in its second year now — it debuted last year in Prague, paying homage to the brand’s Czech roots and celebrating 123 years of its existence. This second edition upped the ante by transforming Milan’s Palazzo Mezzanotte into a centre of fashion and design, with activities like fashion shows, shoe exhibitions and music performances. The exhibits included newly unveiled Bata collections like B-Flex, Insolia, Atletico and Bata Heritage.

I arrived in Milan excited by the gamut of activities, which began soon after I reached my hotel. A quick change of clothes and a short bus ride later, I found myself at an elaborate event at Via Dante. ‘The Sound Of Style’ was the theme for the evening, and it was wonderfully executed, with street installations featuring musicians as the highlight. The next afternoon, at a press conference, we saw some beautiful shoes from Bata’s latest collection. A DIY corner was set up for us to paint and customise pairs for ourselves. Later that evening, we attended a grand fashion show that saw guests from all over the world suited up and eager to see what was on offer.

Here, the theme was taken to a whole new level with great music, a live a capella act, tap dancing and more. Models of varied ethnicity and sizes walked the ramp. One section of the show featured shoes by young designers — created as part of the second year of a competition that Bata runs in association with the Italian school, Politecnico Calzaturiero, and UMPRUM (Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague)