I had an opportunity to do my diploma project with Hidesign, India’s only mass luxury leather brand. The project offered me a chance to develop a range of bags for their Autumn-Winter 07-08 collection. As a lifestyle accessory designer, I had always been eager to work in the area of bags and even more anxious to work with leather. Since Hidesign is a global brand, it was a good experience to work for them and understand their approach to design. I was fascinated by the classic yet fashionable feel of Hidesign, and it was a thrilling experience to see their outlook towards the industry and how they positioned a good market for their bags.
I developed four ranges for their collection. Hidesign makes mainly classic bags with more traditional shapes, and silhouettes, with some element of fashion. It was mainly into structured bags, and the brand needed to re-view the styling to make it more stylish. Thus, there was a need to make soft bags which had interesting concepts and hardware. Since it was a new venture, it was challenging and interesting as well.
Since Hidesign is a global brand, I also had the chance to work under the tutelage of national and international designers, like Manish Malhotra and Louis Vuitton. Hidesign being a brand which believes in quality and detail also helped me to pay more attention to details, to trims, to define the bag better, and make it more aesthetic and practical.
Knowledge from the experienced people at Hidesign also helped me in looking at things better and using their technical knowledge. The presence of the in-house buckle factory made the experience thrilling, making the designing of hardware possible and as desired, since one had the freedom to sit with the craftsmen and guide them.
