New Hermès leather site continues Francophile pattern
Paris-based luxury goods maker Hermès has followed up the opening of its eighteenth leather workshop in Montereau this past June with a nineteenth site, this time located in the French department of Gironde (within the commune of Saint-Vincent-de-Paul, specifically).
The opening of this latest workshop, officially named the Maroquinerie de Guyenne, marks the brand’s first production site in the south-western department.
Hermès said the new site had allowed it to create 260 “jobs of excellence”, with almost one third of these awarded to existing employees from other locations and even other métiers – or trades – within the company. It explained that it had taken this decision in order to foster appropriate levels of training, as well as a sense of high-quality mentoring and support among newer recruits.
Notably, the 140-metre-long, wood-and-concrete workshop at Saint-Vincent-de-Paul meets the brand's own sustainable development criteria, it said. Hermès drew particular attention to how the eight ateliers which house its leather artisans are naturally well-lit ("most conducive to the precise execution of artisanal gestures", as the house described it).
The company also reemphasised how it is actively taking steps to "reassert" its regional integration within its home country, having now opened nine leather workshops in France since 2010.
It further stated that recruitment and training for three additional French workshops (in Louviers, Tournes and Riom) are ongoing.
Image: Hermès.
