Founded in 1937, Joy Shoes is located on the ground floor of the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel and has dressed prominent feet like Amitabh Bachchan, Tatas, Birlas, Zakir Hussain and Amjad Ali Khan. Kings, queens, dukes and Hollywood stars such as Angelina Jolie have dropped by.
Sultan Javeri, who worked at Joy Shoes before Independence, brought in the business after the Britishers left. Now, the store is taken care of by his sons Munna {66} and Remu {64}.
Raw materials like leather and insoles are sourced from India, Europe, Italy or Germany. The products are handmade and mostly without synthetic elements. The most popular shoes in men’s range are Jodhpuris and Peshawaris which are ranged between INR 8,250 and INR 14,990. They are available in plain leather, faux crocodile skin or suede.
Women’s collection sports some bold embellishments like glittery bows, oversized flowers or intricate zari work. They sell the fastest and are priced between INR 4,250 and INR 9,000. Their unique collection of diamond shoes which is made with pearl embellishments and crystals by Swarovski starts from INR 7,950 and goes on till INR 19,900.
They are extremely famous for their Kolhapuri Chappals which start from INR 2,290 for women and INR 2,590 for men.
Although the store is famous for its tradition of making shoes on order, it accepts a limited number of customised orders now. The reason for that is the whole process is time consuming and not always feasible. A pair of bespoke shoes can take up to four weeks to get ready. They make beautiful juttis on order for both men and women for various occasions.
Joy Shoes is arguably one of the oldest shops in hotel and what’s unique about it is that the entire shop has been designed by the Picasso of India, M. F. Husain. Husian had two conditions before he took up the task of redoing the whole shop for his friend. One, that he should be allowed to do whatever he wants to do in the shop. And two, that he gets a designer who listens to him.
The biggest irony in this story is that the entire shop is designed by an artist who is called the barefoot artist of India. M. F. Husain never wore shoes himself. But he has made an indelible mark in the heart of the city with his golden footprint which is marked right at the entrance of the shop. A corner at the entrance also flaunts two sculptures of Husain designing the shop.
Joy Shoes is a graceful work of art. It will be unfair to your feet if you are in the city and don’t give them the privilege to adorn these beautiful shoes. So this wedding season, you know what your feet are wearing. Also, apart from shoes, they have a beautiful collection of leather belts, bags, wine cases, jewelry cases etc. Do check them out.
{Calling all brides (and their tribes!) – From clothes to gifting, get all your wedding inspiration here. #HitchedWithLBB}