Riding high on design, Disney

In an exclusive interview to DTNext, the founder of Hidesign talks about the evolution of the brand and expansion plans. The ‘Made in Pondicherry’ brand was incepted with humble beginnings as a two-man workshop in 1978 by Dilip Kapur. The brand has the distinction of being one of the first Indian labels to be retailed at premium international outlets like House of Fraser, UK; Myers and David Jones, Australia and Stuttafords in South Africa. 

Today, the brand has grown to 74 exclusive stores in India and boasts of a distribution network in over 20 countries, alongside new territories like Spain, Portugal and Kenya. Shedding light on the importance of Chennai as a market, Kapur, Chairperson of the firm tells us, “Chennai has always been appreciative of our handcrafted aesthetic and is an important market. 

Around 15 per cent of revenue contribution comes from Chennai and Puducherry. We relate well with the Tamil work culture and their understated, focused attention to work. Our artisans are all educated, on-the-job trained women and men who come from surrounding villages and towns. Puducherry’s cosmopolitan creative melting pot has also been an important influence.” 

Hidesign currently owns and runs four stores in Chennai, one in Coimbatore and two in Puducherry, that are part of its 74 exclusive stores in India. Kapur says he we will open the second store in Coimbatore shortly. The company had grown into a lifestyle brand with the launch of new categories such as hand polished acetate sunglasses in 2013 and breathable leather lined shoes in 2015. 

Kapur remarks that the collaboration with Disney came about organically as a meeting of minds. He says, “The idea for the Enchanted Collection stemmed from Disney India’s wish to extend their Beauty and the Beast story to youth and adults through a unique offering. 

Collaborating with a known Indian brand was the way to go, which is where we came in. With detailed inputs from team Disney on characters, art and its translation into product, our artisans applied their extensive design expertise to bring the limited edition to life.” 

Kapur also spoke about how demonetisation led to significant amount of degrowth in November 2016 for Hidesign. “But December saw the revenues return to normal and making up for the de-growth caused in November,” he informs us. The company is keen on beefing up its presence in global markets too. Kapur elaborates, 

“The company discovered itself in international markets and entered India in 2000. It enjoys a niche position as a handcrafted veg tan artisanal brand and continues to have a loyal following. Hidesign’s business two decades ago was 90 per cent international and only 10 per cent domestic. Post India’s liberalisation and arrival of organised retail, that ratio has reversed to 20 per cent exports and 80 per cent domestic. 

The focus of the brand is to enter virgin markets and target the younger demographic. My son, Vikas Kapur, looks after US and has been growing the business through online distribution. We are optimistic to see the global business revenues at around 30 per cent in a few years.”