?India?s time is now?

Hidesign, India?s top leather accessories brand, now seeks to go one better. After being bracketed for long in the affordable luxury segment, it now seeks presence in the luxury category as well. For this, the brand, which has had a great run in the last few years, especially in the domestic market, is taking a range of steps, including tying up with designer Rohit Bal.

?Leather is really at the heart of luxury. We want to go into the designer category as that will help us gain more credibility at the higher end,? says Dilip Kapur, President, Hidesign and the man single-handedly responsible for putting Indian leather products in the international market. He points out that there is no Indian presence in luxury accessories. The bags made in collaboration with Bal will be sold at designer boutiques, both in India and internationally, but will have the language of India, with the designer contributing his understanding of surfaces and design sensibility while the shapes and cuts will come from Hidesign. The venture takes off with handbags by September or October, and will move to other accessories. He also wants to tie up luxury brands for an Indian strategy. ?We have been approached by several luxury brands. We have mutual aid relationship with LV, but I am looking to create a more India brand, based on the global market.

Hidesign wants to have clear meaning of luxury in India, which is defined by a sense of exclusivity. The product will continue to have a lot of soul and a clear identity, which a person can relate to, which defines luxury, says Kapur. We will never be a copy of another brand.? Internationally, we are looked at by an executive, generally a little off the beaten track ? who like the natural look, contemporary, not fashionable. I can?t be trendy. It?s not me. If I am copying Prada, I can?t sell to store that is selling Prada. Kapur is sure that India is going to be much bigger space for luxury, but he also cautions that Western Europe and the US have always had huge space for non luxury and there is a reaction against the ?It bags, and the whole ?fashion victim thing? in a reality. Japan has been very luxury oriented. Whether the Indians will be like Japan or the West is difficult to tell. But the smartest thinkers are beginning to think it is going to be very difficult to make India another Japan or China.?

He admits that ?building brands out of India is hell. Hidesign could sell to anyone at one stage. Not any more. Now, if we want to sell many different people, we need different brands. You can?t be everything to everyone as you are going to dilute your brand and have no identity.? holii, which he launched with the Future Group earlier this year, caters to a 30-40% lower price point.

Kapur is clear that Hidesign, with a turnover of Rs 100 crore, is not about party bags. ?For our customer, global outlook and career orientation are important. We are not streetwise ? we do not want to go there. When we started, freaks bought us, says Kapur. Hidesign, which famously sold internationally well before looking towards the Indian market, is changing. A company that was launched in 1978 began selling in India only in this century. ?In 2000, if someone had told me that India would be our biggest market, I would have laughed at them,? he laughs disarmingly. ?We did not care about India before. Every nation has a particular stage, India?s period is now. The next 30-40 years are going to define India. If in the next 30-40 years, we do our job properly, we shall be a company of international stature.?

He also realises the need to be well established in India. ?No company becomes strong by being strong elsewhere.? He says the Indian customer is ignorant at the moment, but that is slated to change shortly. ?We are not a streetwear brand, that is the Chinese market, and in 2-3 years, the Indian woman is going to realise which belongs where.? We want to be local, and that is the fastest way to change trend. We need to think to the time when our moms thought luxury ? we aren?t going to be aping the world always, though we will be influenced. India seems to be much more dug in.?

For the group, India has just boomed. ?We grew 30% last year,? says Kapur. A change in strategy has been to go from exclusive to multi-brand stores. ?It was Louis Vuitton (Hidesign has been collaborating with the global luxe brand since 2007) who said you cannot ignore these people,? he says. ?At first multi-brands would not listen to us. Lifestyle Bangalore was the first store to stock us, and sales doubled. They then went to Chennai, and then all their stores. Suddenly we are suddenly a darling with multi-brand stores. In Shoppers (Stop) we were up by 45% this year. Last month we were up by 55%.? Hidesign has 48 exclusive stores across the country, besides shop-in-shops. Kapur foresees about 30% growth in the coming few years too, and this means a lot more stores, including forays into tier II towns.

Hidesign already reports up to 50% of its sales in categories such as wallets, which he describes as a clear impulse buy, in multi-brand stores, while the comparative figure is 12-14% in its own stores. However Kapur is quick to clarify that ticket sizes are bigger in Hidesign stores, about Rs 3,700 on an average. He also points out that men?s bags do not sell at all in multi-brand outlets as they are too expensive. While the biggest category for Hidesign is women?s handbags, men dominate or totally make up other categories.

Women are another market that Kapur is upbeat about. ?The future is meant for Indian women. The category is growing the fastest. When we started, in 2002-03, bills bought by women were 20%, and now they are 60%.?

Internationally too, while some markets like the UK and Australia continue to sell more to men, in others such as South Africa, Russia, the US, women are becoming increasingly important as an increasing number of them take to careers, explains Kapur. And India is going the same way as more women do corporate jobs where they need clean bags. ?For bags, we recommend keeping it functional and simple, projecting a clean cut image.? Currently the biggest markets for Hidesign are the UK, the US, Australia, Russia and South Africa, says Kapur. ?Our designs are closer to north European in look, and therefore Scandinavia has a lot of potential, as do emerging economies such as Vietnam.? Though 2009 for Hidesign is going to be a year to consolidate rather than expand globally. ?My consultants have been told me to be careful about stores I sell to, with stores going bankrupt.?

For someone who started out ?hating business and corporates,? Kapur has come a long way. And more milestones look set to be coming in the all the way. Look out for the Hidesign store opening in Vienna later this year ?a first for an Indian brand.