Artisan leathergoods production strategy bears more fruit for Hermès
High-end leathergoods brand Hermès officially opened a new leathergoods manufacturing site in the town of L’Isle-d’Espagnac at the end of September. This is the company’s twenty-fourth leathergoods manufacturing site in France.
The company said this new opening confirms its commitment to continuing to produce its leathergoods collections exclusively in France. It added that this commitment involves creating long-term employment and contributing to economic growth in different regions of France.
Hermès announced plans to build the factory at L’Isle-d’Espagnac, a town near the city of Angoulême, in 2022. It said at the time that production would begin there in 2025. The workshop is on a former airfield near the town.
It chose the location for its proximity to other factories it runs already in south-west France, to make employee training and supply chain management as efficient as possible to run, while promoting and preserving artisan skills.
It also worked closely with inward investment organisations in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region and in the Angoulême urban area to complete the project on time.
The other leathergoods workshops in its south-west hub are already well established. It opened a leathergoods factory at Nontron in 1995, a glove and leathergoods production site at Saint-Junien in 1998, and another facility dedicated to leathergoods at Montbron in 2014. The company has said there are more to come.
It will make Kelly and Birkin bags, along with small leathergoods, at its newest site.
