Hermès Festival des Métiers (Festival of Crafts) Singapore and how Hermès scarves are made - Sept. 3-7, 2011

Ever wondered what exactly goes into making a Hermès bag, cuff, or scarf?  Find out for yourself if you stop by the Hermès Festival des Métiers (Festival of Crafts) in your neighborhood; this tour has already passed through Europe and the US and is now making its way through Asia.  Artisans will demonstrate their skills in jewelry making, silk engraving, and leather workmanship right before your eyes.  I was really curious about this and went to the Festival this past weekend.

I got to see a handbag being created (wish I had good pictures, but everyone was crowded around a great, bright pink Bolide? bag), a wallet being sewn, an engraver etching some engravings for a scarf, and almost the entire process of making a Hermès scarf.


Fun Facts:
- There are 75,000 different colors for scarves!
- The entire process of making a scarf from design, to engraving for scarf screens, to printing and prepping the scarf takes two years
- 60% of Hermès employees are artisans trained in different crafts
- 20 scarf designs are released annually and each design may have 10 combinations
- A scarf screen is created for each separate color layer.  The one I witnessed took 15 screens while the red one at the end of this post took 45 different screens.
- Any mess up in the scarf results in the destruction of the scarf (even if you're at screen 45)
- A scarf printer can train for up to five years!



The process:
1. The scarf printer has the final design in mind and attaches a scarf firmly to a table for printing.

2. The printer uses individual screens for each layer and mixes vegetable gum and colors for that screen.

3. Screens are created for the same as well as different sections to allow for variations of colors in the same design.  Precise placement is needed at each step.

4. The scarf is complete with the printing process and is then taken to a steam bath to soften the texture of the scarf (stiff from vegetable gum) and allow the dyes to permeate the scarf.


This scarf took 45 different screens to print!  The face alone is 15 different screens!

I have a newfound appreciation for the craftsmanship and time that goes into the creation of each scarf.  These are true artisans and you can also now see the justification behind the price as well as the value in handing down a quality piece like an Hermès scarf!

I've uploaded a few more pictures to my Flickr here - enjoy!