Important Notes

Phone Number : +91-9444274242

Email Address : [email protected]

From its artisan roots of a two man workshop to a company of 3000 spread all over the world, Hidesign has stayed true to its strong heritage of craftsmanship and innovative design. Hidesign stands out for the sensuous naturalness of its high quality leathers and the smooth soft glow of its solid brass fittings in the leather goods it handcrafts.

Hidesign started in 1978, as a hobby by Dilip Kapur on his return to India after his Ph.D in International Affairs in the United States. The first few bags were different compared to anything being manufactured in Europe and America at that time. From small alternative shops in San Francisco and London, the bags moved to the first adventurous department stores in the early 1990s in London, California and Australia. Hidesign launched its first exclusive boutique in India in 1998 and has quickly grown to 84 exclusive stores and a distribution network in 23 countries that has placed its product in over 2000 stores across the globe

Craftsmanship

From its artisan roots of a two man workshop to a company of 3000 spread all over the world, Hidesign has stayed true to its strong heritage of craftsmanship and innovative design. Hidesign stands out for the sensuous naturalness of its high quality leathers and the smooth soft glow of its solid brass fittings in the leather goods it handcrafts.

Hidesign started in 1978, as a hobby by Dilip Kapur on his return to India after his Ph.D in International Affairs in the United States. The first few bags were different compared to anything being manufactured in Europe and America at that time. From small alternative shops in San Francisco and London, the bags moved to the first adventurous department stores in the early 1990s in London, California and Australia. Hidesign launched its first exclusive boutique in India in 1998 and has quickly grown to 84 exclusive stores and a distribution network in 23 countries that has placed its product in over 2000 stores across the globe.

Innovation and Design

Vegetable Tanning

On discovering that most tanneries had shifted to the faster and cheaper process of chemical tanning, Hidesign revived the almost forgotten technique of vegetable tanning. Learning from the centuries old skills, using natural seeds and barks native to South India, Hidesign has created fashionable leathers that age exceptionally well. Today it is a leader in the research and use of vegetable tanned leathers across the globe.

Marca Punto

The dying art of Marca Punto, where every stitch is embossed by a heated metal foot has been brought back by Hidesign. Known as a heritage craft exclusive to Florence, they studied it 30 years ago in Santa Croce, Italy. It has since been abandoned in Italy as ‘too time consuming’ but they believe that the greatest beauty is often slow, stitch by Marca Punto stitch.

Design Team

“There is great beauty in simplicity” modest advice from The Mother at Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry that influenced Dilip Kapur all his childhood. It is still the basic design philosophy that drives Hidesign, with both Alberto Ciaschini in Milan and Fabian Lintott in London sharing the same belief.

Hidesign’s multi-cultural aesthetic is also reflected in their design team. Fabian Lintott with his edgy style and British functionality designs their men’s range, Alberto Ciaschini with his experience at Giorgio Armani, Trussardi & Hugo Boss make him a fantastic designer for women’s fashion and luxury. In India, Dilip Kapur’s simple, often androgynous sense makes for excellent men’s and women’s collections.

Hand-Painting

Hidesign’s leathers are intrinsically beautiful; fortunately we don’t need to hide them under layers of paint. Our leathers are lightly coloured, often by hand, to ensure that the natural character of the leather is visible.

Every year, we also release a line of limited edition bags that are individually painted by illustrator and artist, Amrita Nambiar. Inspired by the beauty of nature, the melody of the sea or the infinite possibilities of magic and fantasy, each bag illustrates a captivating story.

The Icons

“Great brands take decades to build, the journey and story of every brand is unique and precious” This advice came from Yves Carcelle, then President of Louis Vuitton to Dilip Kapur, founder of Hidesign when he first met him many years ago in Pondicherry.

Inspired by Yves, they decided to endorse their heritage and document their story through the ‘Icon Book’. Bound in Hidesign’s vegetable tanned goat leather, the ‘Icon Book’ reflects the rich history and rebellious character of their brand and its founder Dilip Kapur’s journey over the years.

In 2014, they relaunched 11 of their most beloved bags, calling them ‘The Icons’. These bags with their whimsical designs are individualistic and full of character; they stood for what they loved best – a spirit of adventure, clean designs and the use of natural materials.

A special exhibition of their museum bags, banned advertisements and archival photographs by Dinh Thi Tien along with the Icon Book, was curated by Dilip Kapur and presented for display at premium malls in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. Symbolically, this exhibition began at the Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry, which is where Hidesign began.

The Green Story

The Green story is an environmental project of Hidesign in collaboration with Joss Brooks. Joss’ love of nature has been a constant source of inspiration to Hidesign with his successful experience in restoring the Adyar Creek in Chennai and over 30 years of work conserving the Pitchandikulam forests in Auroville, For this project, they are working with Joss and his team to expand the forests near their atelier and conserve traditional medicinal plants.

Hidesign shares its love for nature with Joss and communicates this with a series of three stories – afforestation, medicinal plants, and wildlife in it's packaging. Their new paper bags and cloth bags communicate these stories and they have written a lot about the beauty of wildlife in the Hidesign Diary 2016. Some of the money from the proceeds will be going towards Joss and his team to help them conserve indigenous forests.