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PHOTOS: T. SINGARAVELOU

HIDE AND HUES At the fashion show

So when the company recently launched their Autumn Winter 07-08 collection, at The Promenade, Hidesign’s boutique hotel, the event included energetically flamboyant flamenco performed by lithe Gilles Chuyen set to a sultry Jazz performance by Wanayran Alvarez from the Honduras. Between that there were swathes of global club music, and of course bags in all kinds of fanciful shapes, interesting sizes and cautious bursts of colour.

The brand’s look this season revolves around sensuousness, playing with shapes and textures. There are fanciful deep rectangular bags, soft slings with subtle brass details, the boxy bags of last year reinvented with silver buckles and embossing and old fashioned saddle bags turned hip with bright colour and pliable, washed leather.

Since a large section of their clientele is professional women, Hidesign is clearly playing on its strengths, big bags that are stylish outside, and practical inside. However, in their quest for original design, there are also some bags that seem bizarrely shaped, or over-embellished.

Alberto, their Italian designer who now spearheads the design, has also come out with an ‘It’ bag this season. Intended to be Hidesign’s signature bag, this chic yet classic piece prominently bears the company logo, and comes in a range colours including a delectable olive green.

The show featured an entire newline of bags embossed with the Hidesign logo. An interesting concept, it worked on the travel bags and smaller items, like coin purses but seemed a little too wannabe when it came to the women’s bags. At a time when half the world is walking about with fake handbags and clothes, just to keep up appearances, perhaps Hidesign should revel in its strength: the fact that most of its bags are so distinctive they can be identified with a glance, without having to resort to stamping ‘Hidesign’ all over the leather.

Branding certainly seems to head the company’s current agenda. “How does a brand become international?” asks Dilip Kapur, founder of Hidesign, before walking us through his factory, to show us the work and detailing that goes into every bag. “Each one is individually numbered, stitched, glued and checked. There’s variation in the leather and variation in the bags. So each bag is individual,” he states.

But that’s not enough for the international market. “Of all the high end luxury bags companies, and there are about 30 – 35 of them, only five make money: Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Armani, Prada and Hermes,” he says, explaining why they aren’t really looking at becoming a premium luxury brand in spite of their recent ties with Loius Vuitton, which is looking at buying a 20 per cent stake in the company. “We’re about affordable luxury,” he adds.

Yet, in China – their latest venture – they have been finding that people don’t relate to the product yet. “We need to create the brand, and that’s different from market to market,” says Kapur, adding, “We do structured, European bags, but in China they want a bag that flops. In Russia, everyone’s very glamorous now; women look like they are going to a party all the time. The Indian woman is very professional, and wants a bag to state the fact.” The answer, Kapur feels, is to talk of Indian skills and craftsmanship, but a global brand. “It’s likely that one branch of Hidesign will move International,” he says, adding with a wry smile, “To be successful it might become necessary for us to move out of the country.”

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