Sandra‘s Closet

After landing from Istanbul, I went directly to the opening reception of «Hermès in the Making». This outstanding event offers the possibility to meet the artisans behind Hermès’ sustainable craftsmanship. Until November 14, 2024 , you can discover how the French Maison craft objects designed to last and be repaired, to be used and passed down through generations.

Since its founding in 1837, six generations of artisans have safeguarded and nurtured their historic know-how in the Hermès workshops. This heritage is a living, flourishing and constantly evolving treasure trove of artisanal skills. Hermès in the Making brings craftspeople from nearly ten of the house’s métiers to offer a sneak-peek into their expert techniques and exclusive know-how. Their work echoes the heart of Hermès: preserving and developing savoir-faire – expertise which is often linked to a historical tradition or region – a quest for quality, durability and innovation, and respect for the surrounding environments.

With lovely Yvonne Leuthard, Press & Influence Manager Hermès Switzerland 

This 8-day public event features live demonstrations, workshops, interactive activities, and films spread throughout the space. You can customize your visit according to your curiosity and interests.

Lichthalle Maag, Hardbrücke
Zahnradstrasse 22
8005 ZURICH / Switzerland

Until November 14th
(Closed on Monday 11th)
10am – 7pm
Free admission

With my dear friends, Alexandra Kruse, my favorite unicorn and astrologist to the right, and photographer Elena Steness, who captures the best moments as you can see below: 

It was a beautiful evening where we spotted the most amazing bags among the visitors. I can absolutely recommend visiting the exhibition, especially as it has free admission. You just need to book a slot in advance here.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht / Elena Steness
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#HermesInTheMaking

In celebration of the spirit of craftsmanship, the Hermès Festival des Métiers (Festival of Crafts) made its first stop in Zurich – Switzerland. The French house’s first world-travelling exhibit invites you to meet with the artisans responsible for creating some of the world’s most luxurious leather goods, silk scarves, china and more.

Ever wondered what goes into the making of an Hermès product? Or why the Kelly bag is such a coveted item? Discover the Hermès universe your own way and enjoy the passion that the craftsmen put into every item. As one of them told me, their effort and long hours spent making those pieces is all worth it, once a customer wears and treasures their handiwork.

Open to the public, this free admission event is located at EWZ-Unterwerk Selnau (Selnaustr. 25, Zurich) starting today through June 10th, 2012 from 11 am- 6pm every day. It is a great experience for kids as well.

For all of you that are living abroad, here are some photos that I took yesterday at the pre-opening. Enjoy the craftsmanship!

Hermès has very high requirements for leather and the artisans will take time to find the best one to use. The difference lies also in how the bags are made by hand. It will take approximately 30 hours to create one single piece with only 3 produced per week. This explains the long waiting list for their iconic Birkin or Kelly bags.

It is pretty impressive to watch the craftsman assemble the really tine pieces of the movement for a mechanical watch.

The artwork for the famous silk scarves is designed by an artist, but the Hermès artisans will need to engrave the silkscreens by hand before starting the printing process.

At the printing station, you can see how each silkscreen, one for each colour, are precisely aligned and printed onto silk. Every single aspect of a silk scarf is done by Hermès: They rear their own silkworms, produce their own twills and mix their own dyes. After the printing, the scarves are left to dry, then the colours are locked in during a steam bath. After that, the silk scarves are washed to make them smooth and coated with a protective finish. Finally, they will be hand-rolled and hand-hemmed along the edges by craftsmen.

Every carré (the French name for it) has its own name, as for example the famous Brides de gala that was sketched in 1957 by Hugo Grygkar and which is still used these days.

Perfection and quality is essential to Hermès, the same applies to the tie making process. A craftswoman explains how the twills are rolled, folded and subsequently stitched into ties, using the same silk as for the scarves.

There are not many artisans in the world who can perform this process. Those silk scarves are only made by special order. It is a thicker kind of twill that comes with a velour-like coat. The craftswoman takes away parts of it with a sharp pointed tool. Just to do those red flowers takes her six weeks. She needs to be extra careful in order not to destroy the precious fabric.

The artisan uses real gold to paint the beautiful embellishments of the crystal glasses. The brown colour of the gold will change in the oven. To achieve the shiny effect, each glass has to be buffed by hand.

The fabulous china and porcelain products are also carefully hand-painted by artisans. After watching the process, you feel guilty for every piece you dropped in the past.

Also of interest is the house’s glove-making. When I asked the glover what is the best material for a glove, he said velour leather is his favourite to work with.

Hermès first started with horse-riding accessories and saddles. The equestrian heritage has been celebrated ever since. A saddle by Hermès is like a piece of art, especially when you look at those special editions with wings or leopard print that the saddler showed me yesterday.

I hope that you will enjoy this eye-opening exhibit as much as I did!

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht