Luxury made to measure - a visit to the exclusive Hermes workshop

By Stefanie Schuette Jan 19, 2012, 3:06 GMT

Paris - Bag maker Valerie Benardeau says the most unusual request she ever had was for a green, apple-shaped bag that had a peeling knife attached to it.

'The client wanted to give it as a present to someone who constantly ate apples,' says Benardeau who works for the French luxury fashion house Hermes.

The bag's inner layer was made of beaten silver metal and its exterior covering was leather. As the bag was being made, apples were brought to Hermes to test whether the evolving design would fit perfectly. This is how far a luxury brand like Hermes is prepared to go to when it runs its own studio for custom made objects.

Ordering a one-off item like an apple bag is regarded by very rich fashion-conscious Parisians as the non plus ultra of stylish living. There are only a few high-end fashion houses that still have their own workshops that cater to those needs. Last year the Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton group issued invitations to what it called a 'Journee Particuliers' to view its workshops and there were long lines of interested people.

It's no wonder that the Vuitton studio in Asnieres or the Hermes' workshop in the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore are treated by some as sacred places for leather goods manufacture, but if you visit the Hermes workshop you might at first be a little disappointed. The very brightly lit office with little in the way of decoration makes a very sober impression at first. The magic, however, becomes palpable as soon as you notice the almost meditative atmosphere that dominates here.

'There's no such thing as a typical client for custom made objects. Different types of people come here,' says Wilfried Guerrand, Hermes general director of Europe. Prices vary depending on the time needed to design and make the object as well as materials.

Fathers with a limited budget have ordered wallets for their sons, hunters have asked for a bag made from the skin of an animal they have shot and some Parisian ladies have ordered especially colourful handbags.

'Every one of our customers is looked after from the moment they contact us to the finished product,' says Benardeau. Prices are agreed in advance, a design is completed on paper and then modified in consultation with the client. 'If we cannot fulfill the order,' says Benardeau, 'we may propose our own design.'

Benardeau is currently working on a bag for a client with diabetes, who wants one that allows easy access to his medicine. It will still take about a week to complete this relatively easy wish. Benardeau says that a bag is made based on how its front part will look. If that has to be altered, it affects the entire bag. Six people work in the studio, which limits how much they can produce and serves to make the objects made here even more sought after.

Next to the studio is a workshop for custom-made saddles. Charles-Emile Hermes, the son of the company founder, bought the building on Faubourg Saint-Honore in 1878 and saddles have been made here ever since. The craftspeople who work here ride horses themselves. The starting price for a Hermes saddle is 5,000 dollars, which is two or three times the price or a normal saddle. Special requests add to the cost.

Lavish attention is spent on making these luxury saddles but the most original items are to be found next door. 'I think the most unusual saddle we designed had a place for a guitar and was made from crocodile skin,' says Wilfried Guerrand. Nevertheless, the apple bag must surely count as the more poetic of the two.