From neon pink skirts to floral handbags, Chennai-based leather brands are experimenting with palette, textures and more

There is so much more that can happen with leather: This is the thought process that drives most new brands today

Imran Pasha’s family has been in the leather business for more than 40 years. He works with Eastern European designers who often require quirky finishes. While doing short runs of leather for Bulgarian and Austrian markets, he noticed he was getting finishes not really seen before. That is when he thought of starting Myon for the Indian market. “We are taking our long standing legacy in the business and trying to turn it into a youthful, edgy, experimental product. As I make colours for the next season in Europe, we give a glimpse of that in our creations for the market here,” says Imran.

Myon’s first collection that came out in May this year includes bags with classy floral prints. “When you think of leather, you would think browns, beiges, blacks, and certain distressed or smooth finishes. It’s unusual to think of leather in florals, prints that are embossed, metallics and stunning colours,” says Imran, adding that this is exactly what they bring to the table, while also catering to orders for leather furnishing. There is so much more that can happen with leather: This is the thought process that drives most new brands today. Add to that the magic word “customisation” and you have got yourself an audience. 

“From hot pink and fluorescent green to pastels, people are surprised when I show them options. Literally any colour you see on fabric can be done in leather,” says Kripesh Ram who started Urai with his sister Varshene Kripa in April 2022. Their workshop in Perungudi is a patchwork of bright hues with busy hands putting together leather garments like skirts, shorts, pants, and accessories. Their clients often want custom made jackets and add their own design inputs. Sometimes they also want their outfits to look like what celebrities are wearing.

Hyde Studio, another brand rooted in Chennai and specialising in bags, is no stranger to such requests. Sometimes they get clients asking them to replicate designs from other brands. “That is something we don’t do, even though our USP is customisation,” says Ramya who has been running the brand with her husband Hari Madhavan since 2016, adding that the brand is more than happy to design something from scratch or even create a product as per the client’s instructions, but never a rip-off.   Hyde Studio has an online catalogue brimming with clean, minimalist designs of handbags, totes, slings, wallets, diaper bags and laptop bags. These can be further customised. “For example, if a left-handed user wants the zipper from left to right, we do that too,” adds Ramya. Depending on the size and detailing, the bags take anywhere between one to three days to be made. “It’s a beautiful chaos in the workshop,” she says, explaining the process. “It starts with pattern making, followed by choosing the right leather for that style. Post that, the pattern is cut and we start putting components together, working on the lining. The bag is then stitched and we decide how we like the edges. After completion, the bag is checked for quality and then packaged.” All their bags are made to order.

As much as they stand for quality of leather and chic creations, these brands are also unanimous about ethical choices. To begin with, they all source their leather locally from tanneries in Vaniyambadi, Ambur, Ranipet to offset some amount of carbon footprint, as well as engage these communities. “The best quality leather comes from these places,” says Kripesh.

“All our leather is responsibly sourced from factories that have LWG (Leather Works Good) certification. For this, the audit is done by an international group that states the leather is responsibly sourced, factories are clean and sustainable, and women’s rights are included,” says Ramya adding that effluents which is also an issue, is taken care of as it goes through Reverse Osmosis and is fine for irrigation.

“There is a lot of misinformation about leather, online,” says Kripesh. “The more I started involving myself in the industry the more it became obvious that leather is a byproduct of the meat industry,” he adds. Talking about where he sources his leather from, he says, luxury brands throw away good skin even if it has a minor imperfection. “I collect stuff thrown away and upcycle them. I get these from tanneries. My artisans and I then do some work on top of these, so they looks different. We do cut plates and prints, different kinds of printing where we apply heat to make it look a certain way.”