Hidesign

Hidesign is a leather goods manufacturer based in Pondicherry, India. In 2018, the company had operations in 24 countries including USA, UK, Australia, Kenya, UAE, Spain, Portugal, New Zealand and Sri Lanka. The leather goods segment of Hidesign contributes to 160 crore of revenue.[1][2]

Hidesign
TypePrivate
IndustryRetail
Founded1978
HeadquartersPuducherry, India
Key people
Dilip Kapur, President
ProductsLeather Goods

Products

The company is the manufacturer and marketer of leather products including handbags, briefcases, laptop bags, travel bags, wallets, accessories, belts, jackets, shoes, footwear and sunglasses.[3] It has 5 manufacturing facilities:

  • Sikkim
  • Baddi (Himachal Pradesh)
  • Puducherry (Two facilities)
  • Chennai (Tannery)[4]

History

Dilip Kapur (President) started Hidesign as a hobby. He had joined Princeton to do his PhD in International affairs and worked part time in a leather factory. In this factory, Kapur learned how to work with leather. He came back after completing his education and started buying leather from Chennai to design bags in Auroville. When a friend paid him INR 300 for a bag, he was surprised and decided to put more effort into it and started Hidesign with a capital of INR 25,000 and one cobbler. Through his friends and family, Hidesign reached Germany, Australia, England, and USA and scaled up. A german company called Welthungerhilfe placed an order for more than 1000 bags and helped with funds to support the delivery of the order. The company started producing for India only by the year 2000. Hidesign only had customers who were not going to mainstream stores. Hidesign reached mainstream stores only after 10 years.[5]

During his work with leather with Denver, US,, he got to know that the best supplier for high-quality vegetable-tanned leather that could be used for hand coloring was E.I. Leather. When he probed further, he found that E.I. stood for ‘East India’ and the leather was being procured 100 miles far from his own home town - Pondicherry. The technique used by E.I. leather was exhaustive and it involved keeping the hides soaked for 40 days in a combination of wattle bark and myrobalan seeds; then the hides were rubbed with pungam oil, a local oil that made leather more supple. When he returned and tried to find the E.I. leather, he got to know that most tanneries didn’t use the same technique anymore and have moved to chemically tanned leather for economical reasons which also contributed to the pollution. He decided to find the last remaining tanners who were still following the E.I. leather technique and to innovate further for ecological tanning. For buckles, he decided to choose brass over Zinc alloy and steel buckles despite that brass took more time and skill. He took inspiration from Hindu temples in India where brass was the preferred metal for Indian gods. The first bags that Hidesign was able to send to Europe and USA were ecological and natural and reflected craftsmanship and hence were able to establish themselves fast.[6][7]

Hidesign in India

The first store in India was opened in 1990 in Pondicherry. Post that, some stores were opened in Mumbai and Delhi. Over the course of 9 years, India became the biggest market for the company.[6]

Collaborations
  • HidesignXKalki collection with theme 'She Loves Adventure’[8][9][10]
  • José Lévy for 'Pondicherry Paris Collection'[11]
  • Hidesign X Joy Kendi, dedicated to the Kenya's Maasai tribe[12]

Controversy

The first advertisement of the brand created a controversy that led to a ban from multiple shops and bans in media. The ad showed a naked black sailor with a white girl. The model in the ad was Mr. South Africa. The ban happened in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, South Africa and India. The company was accused of being obscene.[6]

Sustainability

Hidesign believes in sustainability and uses environment friendly vegetable tanned leather and brass buckles. No paints and pigments are used and nothing is burnt. The waste material is segregated and reused.[13] The company also has an annual recycling initiative called 'The Art of Reuse' which uses scrapped material to come up with new designs.[14][6]

Awards and Recognition
  • South India’s outstanding retailing icons at IFA 2017[15]
  • Gold for Best Art Direction (Creative) at Magzimise Awards 2018[16]
  • ‘Accessory of the Year’ award from the UK’s Accessory Magazine in 1992 given by Princess Diana[13]

References
  1. Lamba, Charu (26 July 2018). "Hidesign celebrates 40 years; plans to take the Middle East by storm". Indiaretailing.com. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
  2. Kamath, Vinay. "At 40, no going hell for leather, says Hidesign's Kapur". @businessline. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  3. Batra, Avinder (27 November 2014). "Hidesign plans footwear foray in makeover as lifestyle fashion brand". The Economic Times. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  4. Purkayastha, Debapratim & K. Sudhakar Rao (27 September 2018). "Hidesign's positioning challenge in India". @businessline. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  5. "From Rs 25,000 to Rs 100-crore! The Hidesign story". Rediff. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  6. "Hidesign: The Iconic Brand Turns 40". Shoes & Accessories. 16 February 2018. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  7. "I sit in on every new bag, says Hidesign founder Dilip Kapur". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  8. "Hidesign collaborates with Kalki Koechlin for its latest collection". femina.in. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  9. "Kalki Koechlin and Hidesign team up for a line of sustainable handbags". Vogue India. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  10. Kumar, Surya Praphulla (16 March 2018). "Hidesign's new collection with Kalki Koechlin is edgy and fun". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  11. "Paris-born designer Jose Levy ties up with Hidesign on a new project". www.indulgexpress.com. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  12. "Hidesign X Joy Kendi: A Collaboration That Doffs Its Hat To Kenya's Maasai Tribe". Verve Magazine. 1 September 2017. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  13. Sriram, Malathy. "Hidesign stands for craftmanship redefined, the green way". BLoC. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  14. Ganguly, Shramana (5 October 2015). "The Art of Reuse: Hidesign puts on display best-out-of-waste items alongside its luxury line". The Economic Times. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  15. "Future Lifestyle Fashions leads the pack of India's finest fashion retailers at IMAGES Fashion Awards 2017". 18 April 2017.
  16. "KOOV'S, Taj Hotels, Hidesign, Raymond Shine At Magzimise Awards - Exchange4media". Indian Advertising Media & Marketing News – exchange4media. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
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