The Chinese did not have such taboos, and they worked in these factories.”By the 1940s and ’50s, Chinese-owned shoe shops had become a city institution. Customers from across Kolkata travelled to Bentinck Street for bespoke pairs. “The younger generation hardly wears leather shoes now. They would go to the Adidas store nearby or buy it online,” an elderly shopkeeper at one of the shoe shops on Bentinck Street said, requesting anonymity. Most of the shoe shops on Bentinck Street are left to the shopkeepers.

Source: The Telegraph February 18, 2026 18:02 UTC