Hema Emporium is named after a person, not a place or a product. It's the name of the late Dilip Sorathia's wife, and the company he built for her in 2015 is still run today on the same conviction he started it with: most of what gets sold as leather in India isn't, and that difference is worth caring about.
Most of what's sold as leather isn't
Dilip Sorathia started Hema Emporium in 2015 after noticing something that still holds true across most of the market today, a lot of what gets labelled "leather" is nothing of the sort. Coated fabric, bonded scraps, synthetic finishes dressed up with the right stamp on a tag. He built the company as a direct answer to that, committing to full-grain leather at a time when it would have been easier, and cheaper, to cut corners the way much of the market already had.
He named the company Hema, after his wife.
The distinction he was drawing matters more than it might sound. "Genuine leather," despite the name, is actually one of the lowest grades of real hide sold, heavily processed and prone to cracking within a few years. Full-grain is the top layer of the hide, left intact, and it's what ages well instead of falling apart. That gap, between what a label promises and what a customer actually receives, is the entire reason Hema Emporium exists. We've written more on how to tell the difference yourself in our full-grain vs genuine vs PU leather guide, if you want to check any bag against the same standard he set.
Carrying it forward
Today, Hema Emporium is run by his sons, Pankaj and Rahul, continuing the standard their father set. The company hasn't drifted from the reason it was started, full-grain leather, done properly, at a time when it's still genuinely easier to sell people something else and call it leather anyway.
That standard isn't just a claim in a founding story, it's the reason every bag still ships with a lifetime leather replacement warranty and free pickup and repair anywhere in India. A brand built to fight fake leather has to actually stand behind the real thing years later, not just at the point of sale, and that's the part of the original commitment that's stayed unchanged.
What hasn't changed as the range grew
What started as a response to one problem, fake leather sold as real, has grown into a full range built on the same material standard: leather wallets, backpacks, tote bags, sling and crossbody bags, and duffle bags, all in the same full-grain, top-grade leather Dilip Sorathia insisted on from the start. New designs are added every month, but the leather grade behind them has never been the variable.
How the leather actually gets to you
Every bag is handcrafted, but not in one single workshop the way a lot of brand stories like to tell it. Hema Emporium's bags are made across different cities in India, by artisans working in full-grain, top-grade leather, with new designs added to the range every month.
Before anything reaches a customer, it goes through a final check in Goa. That's the step that exists specifically to catch what shouldn't leave the building, a seam that isn't right, a finish that doesn't meet the standard, before a bag ever reaches a shelf or a doorstep.
The name changed nothing about the standard. It's still full-grain leather, checked properly, or it doesn't go out.
Where to find us
Calangute
Baga
Both are worth a visit if you're in North Goa, not just to buy, but to see the final check in person, the same one every bag goes through before it ships anywhere in India. It's a small thing to witness, but it's the same step that separates a company built to sell "leather" from one built around what leather actually is, and that distinction is the entire reason Hema Emporium exists in the first place.
Full-grain leather, checked properly, backed by a lifetime leather replacement warranty and free repair anywhere in India.
Frequently asked questions
The late Dilip Sorathia founded Hema Emporium in 2015, naming it after his wife, Hema. Today, his sons, Pankaj and Rahul, run the company, continuing the full-grain leather standard he built it on.
Bags are handcrafted by artisans across different cities in India, using full-grain, top-grade leather. Every bag then goes through a final quality check in Goa before it reaches a customer, whether bought in-store or shipped anywhere in India.
Yes, full-grain, top-grade leather specifically, the highest quality grade available. The company was founded directly in response to the amount of fake and synthetic leather sold as genuine in the Indian market, and that commitment hasn't changed.
Two stores in North Goa, one in Calangute and one in Baga. Both also serve as the location for the brand's final quality check on bags before they ship.
New designs are added to the range every month, handcrafted by artisans working across different production centers in India.