Leather art in unique style

Initiatives

Hidesign was born out of the need to be distinct from the uniformity and synthetic flatness of the mass market. After vegetable tanned leathers, Hidesign moved onto solid brass hardware to reduce dependence on electroplating. The company has stopped using plastic bags for packing all across India.

Marketing initiatives

With a strong product that instantly connected with the user and word-of-mouth communication Hidesign reached out to newer markets and newer customers. Besides advertising public relations, events like Hidesign’s annual fashion shows, region and occasion specific promotions have increased credibility and recall. Hidesign is now working at increasing its online presence through its revamped website and social networking sites like facebook.

Brand proposition 

Natural, handcrafted & eco-friendly– that’s Hidesign.

The Challenges overcome

Challenges come everyday and they need to be resolved constantly. For example, Hidesign was largely a man’s brand until 2001 when more than 80 per cent of its turnover was men’s. There was a sudden collapse in the international travel and men’s market after attack on World Trade Centre in 2001 as businessmen stopped travelling and buying... the company made two shifts:

• Made new women’s collections. These have been very successful and 55 per cent of the brand’s offerings are in women’s category.
• Hidesign opened up in the Indian market, but failing to find a distributor who could do an upmarket brand at that time, it started opening its own stores. 

Expansion plan

Hidesign’s collaboration with Future Ventures has led to a rather successful brand Holii which is stepping into its third season. In the pipeline are coming up of a luxury brand and a tie up with an Italian brand. Next are brand extensions - launch of new product categories such as sunglasses to begin with. 

His understanding of the retail business and his learning in this process

“The ability to think differently, the opportunity I was given both on academic and personal front, growing up in the ashram with its free system of education and the years spent in America during the Cultural Revolution, willingness to look at things differently and allow Hidesign to be a unique brand with unique values.”