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Drawing on India’s rich leather heritage,echos above, a new Indian sneaker brand emphasises precision, quality control, and thoughtful details, from materials to packaging. Its debut collection, ‘Awayday,’ takes inspiration from British terrace culture, blending retro influences with fresh colorways. Beyond product, echos above stands out for its restrained, storytelling-led marketing approach, prioritizing emotional connection over aggressive selling. Ultimately, the brand positions itself as part of a larger movement—bridging traditional Indian craftsmanship with contemporary global design to redefine how Indian sneakers are made and perceived.
The first 'sneaker's I ever owned were the white canvas shoes I wore to school every day. I had to polish them with a pungent whitener that smelled like a paint factory and got everywhere. On days I forgot to polish them, I’d use chalk to fill in the darker scuff marks. They were a constant source of anxiety, and it wasn’t until years later that I began to see sneakers as something more than the first thing I worried about each morning.
India’s sneaker scene has transformed over the past decade, with more homegrown brands entering the market and proving that high-quality shoes don’t have to come from abroad. Now, a new player, echos above, is stepping in to further redefine how we see sneakers and the brand experience around them.
An emerging brand with an incredibly young and lean team, echos above is focused on the craft and engineering behind every shoe. Based out of Chennai, a long-standing hub for India’s finest leather and footwear craftsmanship, the brand is working with access to some of the best materials and makers in the country.
echos above is driven by intention. Every detail, no matter how small, is considered. Even something as simple as packaging becomes part of the experience, like including two dust bags instead of one. It’s a philosophy that extends to the shoes themselves: silhouette-driven designs that can stand alongside global standards, not just in how they look, but in their materials and construction detailing.
What sets the brand apart is its commitment to doing everything end-to-end within India. In an industry where outsourcing is often the norm, echos above is choosing a more deliberate route, working closely with local craftsmen, not overproducing, and maintaining complete control over the process. It’s a bold move for a team of just 10–15 people, but one that allows for an unusual level of precision. Everyone involved knows exactly what goes into each pair. Putting the brand’s foundational commitment to quality in the forefront, the founder Fabin Prakash says, “We as a brand want to be very very critical of ourselves as well, because even if we produce 100 shoes we don't mind rejecting 20. If it's not good, like if I wont wear it I will not give it to my customer.”
Their first drop, ‘awayday’ inspired by the 80s and 90s terrace culture, a subculture that came up in Britain where footballers were wearing luxury and high-end sportswear brands as ‘casuals’. With suede panels, tonal stitching, and their signature cloud detailing in colours that have never been seen before in the Indian sneaker market like a ‘lemongrass yellow’ and ‘corsage pink’.
There’s also a larger question driving the brand which is, if India already has world-class craftsmanship, why hasn’t it consistently translated into globally competitive footwear brands? echos above seems to position itself as part of that answer, bridging the gap between traditional skill and modern design engineering.
Interestingly, the brand has only been around for a month. Yet, even in this short time, it has carved out a distinct voice, especially in how it approaches marketing. Instead of aggressively pushing products, echos above leans into a more conversational and emotionally resonant approach. Even online, their goal is simple: if someone watches one reel, they should want to watch all of them. It’s less about just selling a shoe and more about building a feeling.
That sensibility carries into the brand itself, gentle, understated, and global in its outlook. Because for echos above, the goal is to build something beyond a good-looking shoe. It’s to create something that lasts the test of time, something that ages well, and something that people can grow with over time, much like the idea of sneakers itself.
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