By Jacquie De Almeida
For Amandine Aulene, handcrafting an Hermès Birkin bag is just another day at the office.
Today, though, she’s making the Kelly, named after Grace Kelly, another staple in the wardrobes of celebrities, royalty, and the über rich.
It can take up to 20 hours to fashion a Kelly from the luscious leather pieces sitting atop Aulene’s bench.
The soft-spoken artisan is one of 11 that made a stop in Toronto for the Festival des Métiers, a behind-the-scenes demonstration of all things Hermès like watches, jewellery, and scarves held at the Design Exchange. London and Dusseldorf welcomed similar events.
Adding contact glue to both sides of a strip of leather, Aulene begins to fashion the bag’s handle, seemingly unaware of the awe she’s eliciting from members of the media invited for a preview.
“Only one person makes each bag from start to finish, except for the tanning and cutting of the leather,” she says through a French translator.
The event not only brought Hermès artisans to Toronto from Paris, but the company’s chief executive officer (CEO), Patrick Thomas.
“This exhibition goes back to the very roots of our company,” he said. “Our philosophy has not changed since the days of our founder, Thierry Hermès, which is the search for excellence and to add value. The artisans we have with us here make products of high value.”
Luc Hiegel has been a watchmaker for two decades, but never tires of explaining the inner workings of an automatic watch.
Using a pair of tweezers, he describes the various parts of the movement for Hermès’ ‘Le Temps Suspendu,’ a watch that places the hands at an impossible position with the push of a button, nudging the wearer into forgetting the time.
It’s been 176 years since Hermès was founded on the Grands Boulevards quarter of Paris, making saddles for the world’s elite. But it wasn’t until 1922 when the company started producing handbags that would eventually become one of the most recognizable fashion accessories in the world. Scarves, watches, and jewellery followed.
So what’s it like creating a handbag that is the object of desire of every fashion-savvy woman in the world?
“I love what I do,” Aulene says, while continuing to apply glue. “It’s gratifying to know somebody somewhere is waiting for the bag I’m making.”
