Alter Ego: Day Out: Hermes Festival Des Metiers

Les Festival de Metiers avec Les Saachi Gallery... that's about as far as my french goes, in translation the festival of craft at the Saachi gallery. I over heard the guy say that Hermes wanted to remind people that their products are hand made, that there are people that dedicate their lives to the craft of hand making the items that we now so desire.

If your a lover of designer labels this is a good place to understand where the money you so eagerly parted with for that one scarf or hand bag is going too. The process that is undertaken and it optimal environment. As the man was screen printing the scarf the translator said, as much as we love the Saachi this is not the best condition for printing the scarf like in their factory, the humidity, dust, lights, all affect the material and the printing process.

You get to talk, ask questions, and even look through the binoculars to see diamonds being placed into its setting. I did have a small chat about how the practise of craft has now changed, from what I would have originally imagined a factory of older men, has now changed with a new generation to keep the art alive and that its new hands are of women. The lady said that with new people comes new atmosphere and the age range of new staff is now 20-30.

If I had more time I would go every day to see the progress of the bag at its stages as they made them there at the Saatchi. Hoping to see it finished.