the French purse label that helps the skilled integration of girls in India
Translated by
Roberta HERRERA
Printed
Nov 21, 2023
The French purse model, Hindbag, is about to open its new boutique on Tuesday at 53 Rue Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, situated in Paris’ 9th arrondissement. “The opening of this primary flagship retailer, changing the earlier one close to our places of work within the 5th arrondissement, comes throughout a yr of serious development for the model,” defined Pierre Monnier, the 32-year-old founding father of Hindbag, an moral and socially accountable purse model.
Fanny pack by Hindbag priced at 42 euros – DR
Monnier’s enterprise started throughout his enterprise college research when, for a undertaking, he partnered with the Swami Sivananda Memorial Institute (SSMI), an NGO based mostly in Delhi that has been working for over fifty years to teach underprivileged kids and empower ladies in slums by textile manufacturing jobs. Collaborating with SSMI in 2012, Monnier initiated the manufacturing of cotton baggage for company entities, serving to the NGO transition from dependence on donations and enabling them to supply regular incomes to feminine seamstresses.
In 2017, recognizing the demand for higher-value merchandise and responding to the seamstresses’ requests, Monnier recruited a designer, thus birthing the Hindbag model.
Hindbag’s success story solely took off in 2020, largely as a result of influence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Confronted with a cessation of company orders, the model opted to proceed supporting the NGO by promoting baggage at value worth, a method that proved remarkably profitable.
In the present day, SSMI employs 200 ladies and educates 400 college students, having lately inaugurated a brand new constructing to accommodate an extra 450 college students quickly. Nearly all of the workshop’s manufacturing, comprising 98%, focuses on Hindbag-branded backpacks, fanny packs, and colourful pouches. The remaining 2% entails native textile manufacturing strategies, such because the Indian block print.
Due to Hindbag’s investments, the workshop has considerably expanded to satisfy the growing demand. Monnier elaborated, “In 2022, the workshop produced round 400 items per week, however at this time, it is dealing with 20,000 items.”
The corporate nonetheless generates 20% of its income by B2B channels, which aids in offering employment to much less expert ladies and yields important manufacturing volumes.
Hindbag’s colourful GOTS-certified cotton baggage now represent 80% of the corporate’s gross sales, distributed throughout 600 retail factors, accounting for half of the model’s income by bodily retail and on-line gross sales equally.
Pierre Monnier with seamstresses from the SSMI NGO workshop in India – DR
Venturing into the style business and worldwide enlargement
Though the impartial firm maintains discretion concerning its turnover, it has been worthwhile since 2017, enabling ample room for reinvestment. Nevertheless, this success did not come with out challenges, as its founder avoided drawing a wage for 5 years. “We have realized to attain a lot with little or no, experiencing a slower development trajectory than if we had sought funding. Nevertheless, we’re lucky to have the help of our financial institution,” shared Monnier, highlighting the necessity for independence when constructing an moral and socially accountable enterprise mannequin. Heading a crew of 10 people, the entrepreneur is contemplating exterior funding for future enlargement plans.
The enterprise is brimming with initiatives: an inaugural assortment of jackets and overshirts set to launch in April, potential openings of latest shops, and, most significantly, a concerted effort to bolster the model’s presence in worldwide markets.
The model’s main focus is on Germany, the place it presently boasts 60 resellers out of its 200 worldwide retail companions, adopted by a broader emphasis on the Benelux area. Moreover, the model goals to increase its international on-line gross sales, on condition that France at present represents 80% of its web-based purchases.
Sourcing cotton from an Indian spinner and dyeing it throughout the nation by a GOTS-certified entity, Hindbag intends to proceed providing fairly priced merchandise. “Our common basket is 45 euros. I’ve all the time wished to make ethnic put on accessible to everybody, because it’s at present considerably restricted to increased revenue brackets, although the panorama is progressively altering,” concluded Monnier.
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