Hidesign is a leather goods manufacturer based in Pondicherry, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. The company markets its products as affordable luxury

Affordable luxuries

Affordable luxuries are goods that can be considered luxury goods according to the marketed image, but which cost less than proper luxury goods. As such, these goods are sold to a larger segment of the market...

 goods. It operates stores in several countries around the world as well as in India.

Timeline

• 1978: Hidesign begins with a two-person workshop, marketing through small alternative shops in Australia and the United States.
• 1982: Commences marketing in the UK.
• 1984: Development of solid brass buckles and subsequent discontinuation of zinc alloy electroplated buckles.
• 1985: John Lewis
  John Lewis (department store)
  -Recent developments:In June 2004, John Lewis announced plans to open its first store in Northern Ireland at the Sprucefield Park development, the province's largest out of town shopping centre, located outside Lisburn and from Belfast. The application was approved in June 2005 and the opening of...
  
  in UK is the first department store to the carry the full line of Hidesign leather goods that now includes handbags and wallets, as well as weekend, toiletry and computer bags.
• 1988: Hidesign introduces leather garments including jackets and pants.
• 1990: Factory established in Pondicherry
• 1992: Accessory Magazine UK chooses Hidesign’s “Boxy Bag” as Accessory of the Year.
• 1997: Hidesign opens its first international store in Moscow.
• 2000: Awarded Aksharam award for Outstanding achievement in Language Technology
• 2004: Alberto Ciaschini of Italy commences as lead designer.
• 2010: Launch of multistory flagship store in Pondicherry.

The Founder

Dilip Kapur was born in New Delhi and moved to Pondicherry at the age of six. He grew up in Sri Aurobindo Ashram and went to school at Phillips Academy, Andover, and Massachusetts. After graduating from Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA in International Affairs, Kapur completed his PH.D at University of Denver, School of International Studies in International Affairs.

He took up a job in a leather company while pursuing his PH.D and then returned to India in 1977 to live in Auroville and started Hidesign as a hobby in 1978.

He still teaches students at Auroville on International affairs.

Factory

The Hidesign factory at Pondicherry was designed and built by Ray Meeker, a low cost ecological building expert. The factory includes ponds, waterfalls and streams built into the layout. No asbestos is used anywhere in the factory and all waste water at the factory goes through filtration and is reused. All waste material is also separated and reused or sold for reuse.

External links

• Hidesign company official website
• The growth of Hidesign