Mention ostrich leather and brands such as Gucci, Hermes, Prada and Louis Vuitton come to mind. However, with the launch of Hidesign’s Atelier collection, Indian customers now have the opportunity to get themselves an ostrich leather or a deer leather hand bag at an affordable price. The Puducherry, Tamil Nadu based leather brand is giving customers an opportunity to own affordable luxury.
It was a time for some reflection at Hidesign thinking about how to take their leather heritage forward. Having always believed in and been inspired by natural beauty, it was a dream for the Hidesign design team to bring together the finest natural materials and to realize exquisite shapes through fine craftsmanship. According to Dilip Kapur, founder and president of Hidesign, the Atelier collection realizes this dream by bringing together the finest natural leathers in the world and work with Hidesign’s Master craftspeople to shape innovative handbags, clutches and wallets that take the Hidesign woman from her professional life to entertainment evenings seamlessly. Incidentally, the company has already been making deer leather shoes for the last two years.
Hidesign uses farmed ostrich and deer leather. The farmed deer leather sourced from New Zealand is considered to be one of the finest leathers in the world. Renowned for its luxurious touch, it is remarkably light, ensuring you have an elegant bag with structure and body, yet gentle on your shoulder. Ostrich leather is one of the most sought-after exotic leathers in the world due to its rarity, resilience, and quality.
Globally, ostrich leather is very expensive. Though the ostrich bird is a large one, the usability or what is identifiable as ostrich becomes very tiny which is why the world over it tends to be an extremely precious leather. While the card holders and wallets are priced Rs5,000 onwards, the hand bags are priced from Rs25,000 onwards, the bigger computer and work bags are priced at Rs75,000. “This collection is way more accessible than ostrich bags from other luxury brands,” says Kapur.
From Rs25,000 and above is a new price point for the company. At present, the company’s products are priced at the standard mid-level price points with handbags priced at ₹ 7,500 and men’s products priced in the range of ₹ 12,000 – ₹ 15,000. Larger products such as wheelies and trollies are priced at ₹26,000 – ₹30,000. “Ostrich leather is the leather of choice for luxury designers, it’s random and delicate pattern of the quills used for the most refined of products. Lined with fine kid suede and Spanish lamb, our Ostrich bags are a celebration of luxury,” says Kapur.
This brings us to the conversation about leathers and their alternatives in today’s world. Leather made from mushroom, pineapple and mango are some of the alternatives that have been spoken about in the industry. While the idea is coming from a good space, it seems in terms of the industry, it has not reached a space where these alternatives can be used on a larger scale.