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Leather goods manufacturer Hidesign, which competes with leading brands in over 20 countries, plans to launch a new range for bags and another for footwear next year.
“In India we are in a much stronger position as we do not face the heavy customs duties that international brands face,” Dilip Kapur, Founder and President of Hidesign, told Business Line .
“More importantly, we understand the Indian customer and have established a personal relationship, which is a critical factor for any luxury and affordable luxury brand,” he added.
The company has tried and tested various retail formats in India. From the first exclusive boutique in 1998, Hidesign has grown to 72 exclusive stores in India and a distribution network in 23 countries has placed its products in over 2,000 stores.
Kapur said, “We have 72 exclusive brand outlets (EBOs), 125 multi-brand outlets (MBOs) and four franchisees. It has retail presence across all metros, tourist hot-spots, tier 2 and 3 cities.”
In Bangalore alone, company has around nine exclusive boutique outlets, one factory outlet and 19 multiple boutiques such as Centrals, Shopper’s Stop, Lifestyle and Westside.
The company has increased its product offering to take on competition. “There has been a significant effort made to increase the product range. There have been brand extensions — sunglasses which were launched six months ago, the luxury line which was launched 18 months ago, the Icon bag range which will be launched in January 2014 and the footwear range which will be launched in March 2014,” Kapur said.
On retail business and impact of slowdown, he said, “I think it’s too early to tell whether the rupee depreciation impacted Hidesign business. The Indian economy is largely consumption-based and at Hidesign we have not seen any drop in consumption. We expect this year to be excellent.”
He added that any drop in the growth of sales in the MBOs or EBOs will be more than made up by increase in e-commerce and exports. “We also have to bear in mind that a company like Hidesign with a strong manufacturing base in India will gain market share vis-a vis importers.”
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