After travelling throughout the US and Europe Hermès' Festival of Crafts is finally arriving in Singapore Sep 3-7, its first Asian stop. This is the opportunity for the general public to get a better understanding of the level of craftsmanship involved in the brand's luxury products.
Master craftsmen and women from its workshops are demonstrating the savoir-faire behind the handbags, scarves, jewelry, watches, porcelain, saddles and other objects from the house of Hermès.
Most impressive is the handbags station. The craftsman (a lady actually) is able to explain in details all the various steps that goes into constructing a Hermes bag, and they are many! At Hermes, a craftsman is given a bag to make from start to finish, which is why he can put his name on the bag (this is different at Louis Vuitton, where several craftsman will work on different part of the bag, each with their own speciality). Watching her explanation, I've learned a trick on how to make sure you will never loose the thread out of the needle once you've started, and witness the difficulties of making the end finish just right. It takes up to 20 hours or day day to make one whole bag. Whether the end product is worth thousands of dollars is debatable, but the amount of specialized work that does into on is much more complicated than meet the eye.
The porcelain station is also quiet interesting, as the craftsman can clearly show all the stages in making a hand-painted porcelaine up to Hermes standards (at least two firings to build up the colors), platinum trimming and final relief painting.
September 3 to 7, 2011
12 pm to 7 pm daily
Free admission
290 Orchard Road
Paragon, Main Atrium
