French luxury brand Hermes prides itself on making wares that are made to last, to be repaired and passed on, but what actually goes at its workshops scattered across France to make this a reality? A new travelling exhibition, Hermes In The Making, has made its way to Singapore to give us a behind-the-scenes look. The special week-long pop-up, which is free to the public, opens on Saturday October 1 at Marina Bay Sands Event Plaza. The open-plan area features nine live demo stations where French artisans will demonstrate time-honoured crafts such as silk printing, saddle making, bag making, watchmaking, jewellery making, porcelain painting and glove making. Visitors will have an hour to explore the stations, as well as try their hand at playful activities such as tool karaoke, on-site colouring, dexterity games, leather scenting and serigraphy. Where can I start with so much to do?
We recommend you explore the space according to colours to make sure you experience every bit of the exhibition has to offer. Look around the room and you will notice that stations are grouped according to colour, specifically yellow, orange, pink and purple. Each of the four pillars of the house is one of the four pillars: preservation and transmission of know-how, respect for and quality materials, commitment to long-term and regional anchoring.
This section is an ode to the traditional craftsmanship of silk making. Start by trying your hand at a slot machine right in front of the entrance. There is no prize for a super strike, but you will get to see a mind blowing collection of scarf designs from past and present. The highlight of this section is watching silk engravers work on separating or printing silk scarves. If you re lucky, the affable artisans may even offer a history class on how the old Lyon silk screen printing technique is an artform unique to Hermes.
In the orange zone you will discover the intricate art of porcelain painting. A steady hand and a lot of patience are required to transfer a design or pattern onto porcelain art. You won't want to hold your breath for the finish product. The gemstone setting area is equally exquisite. You'll be able to see the painstaking process of setting gemstones, the technique of attaching gemstones into jewellery. Here is the good stuff. This station is where you can catch a glimpse of how a Kelly bag is made. The Kelly can't go from leather pieces to a bag in a short time because it's made of some 40 odd pieces of leather and to hand-stitch all of these require a lot of time. After witnessing the laborious stitching process, you will be able to understand why the Kelly bag has a very long waitlist. Leather making is a part of the leather making metier. You never knew that making these involves a whopping 22 steps before it fits like a glove. The other timekeeper of the house is the Repairing Objects station. More than 100,000 Hermes objects are brought to stores by their owners every year for repairs or restoration work. It is thanks to these experts that old objects get a new lease of life. So there you have it, a complete overview of how to navigate the open-plan space like a pro. If you move quickly from station to station, you should be able to cover everything within your allotted time. The operative word here is swiftly Alternatively, you may want to take it slow. You can learn everything from your chosen artisan by choosing a preferred station and spend the entire hour there to take in all there is to learn from your chosen artisan. It is not every day that you get face time with a passionate artisan who is willing to share his craft. What you decide to do, catch the exhibition before it makes its way to the next stop, Kyoto.