Footsteps across the world collection

Hermès endeavours to create objects that withstand the test of time and to forge lasting connections with the surrounding world. Film and documentary maker Frédéric Laffont, winner of the Albert Londres award, brings his humanistic perspective to bear as he walks in the house’s footsteps and gives free rein to his camera.
With curiosity awakened, we navigate between stories and portraits, carried along by gestures and places, and taking discovery to the ends of the earth…
Our relationship with sustainable development shines through this Footsteps across the World collection.

Naples, Italy

In the courtyard of the Naples State Archives, a series of frescoes depicting the life of Saint Benedict, a jewel of 16th century Italian art, have regained their original vibrancy and splendor thanks to expert restorers. Since 2021, Hermès, which celebrates drawing in its creations, has been supporting the preservation of artisanal fresco know-how and the restoration of works visible in the public space all over the Italian peninsula, thus helping to preserve the country’s cultural heritage.

Villaines-les-Rochers, France

A willow with light foliage, petite grisette is the lace-making thread of basket-weavers. Its fine but strong withies lend themselves to the most delicate of weaves. The art of wickerwork has been practiced since the 7th century in Villaines-les-Rochers, an ancient troglodyte village in Touraine, and is perpetuated by the fifty or so wickerworkers and basket-makers in the local wickerwork cooperative. Hermès, which has been partner of this structure created in 1849 for over forty years, has strengthened its commitment over time, in a spirit of constantly renewed creativity. From objects for the home, the collaboration has extended to incorporate bags and fashion accessories. The marriage of wicker and leather, a source of creation and innovation for the house, has given new impetus and prospects to these activities, which are firmly rooted in the Touraine region. By promoting these exceptional skills, new vocations are inspired and the craft lives on.

Seoul, Korea

Park Myung Bae creates traditional furniture in wood that he allows to rest for seven years before crafting it. Sohn Dae Hyun applies the ancient art of lacquering to a diverse range of materials. Park Moon Yeol chisels ornamentation into metal pieces such as locks and padlocks. Park Sung Kyu participates to the conservation of the leather lacquering technique.
These artisans, all custodians of the excellence of contemporary Korean craftsmanship, were chosen to rekindle know-how that existed under the Joseon dynasty (1392-1897). The Arumjigi Culture Keepers Foundation, whose mission is to preserve and support traditional Korean culture, entrusted them with the painstaking task of recreating objects that furnished the palaces of Seoul. A long and meticulous period of research in museums, seeking out treasures from the past and forgotten techniques, allowed them to reproduce copies of these precious repositories of Korean culture. This project represents an important stage in the “One Protector for One Cultural Heritage” program developed with the Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea, which has been supported since 2015 by Hermès, a house that particularly values the safeguarding and transmission of artisanal know-how.

La Canourgue, France

Riding Phébus, Navarro or Ursula, at a horse’s walking pace, which is close to that of a human, the patients that come to the Equiphoria hippotherapy institute in Lozère are able to regain awareness of their body and feel the benefit in their movements. Aiding the work of this institute, supported by Hermès since 2013, required designing a saddle that would not hinder interactions between the horse and the patient. Hermès’ saddlers put their know-how to work for the foundation’s teams of doctors and therapists by creating an innovative “sheet of leather”. Composed of a light and comfortable carbon saddle-tree, foam seat and felt base, this saddle illustrates Hermès’ deep understanding and love of horses, the fruit of a partnership dating back to the house’s origins.

Leather workshops at Fitilieu and Val-de-Reuil, France

Florists, jewellers, butchers, young graduates, job seekers, etc.: the identity and experience of those who join the Hermès leatherworking schools is not important. First and foremost, training coordinators like Gabrielle and Christophe build on the dexterity and capacity for learning of these students with unusual career paths, who are recruited through the Pôle Emploi agencies in the regions in which the French manufacturing facilities are established. Acquiring the know-how and qualities of a Hermès artisan – meticulousness, precision, attention to quality, perseverance, etc. – goes far beyond a simple exercise. Behind the gesture, a posture and an attitude give the work meaning and constitute a promise of pride for the future artisans.

Saint-Ouen and Paris, France

These classes of 14 and 15-year-olds in the Île-de-France region, at the Michelet professional high school in Saint-Ouen, and Staël high school in the 15th arrondissement of Paris, have neither maths nor French lessons today. Benjamin, Emmanuelle and Diane, saddler-leatherworkers, have come to their classrooms to convey “the pleasure of doing and sharing”. By meeting these craftsmen, who share their passion with students aged 9 to 16 as part of the Manufacto programme initiated by the Fondation d’Entreprise Hermès, a new lesson was learned: that you can make your life by making objects.

The Fondation d’entreprise Hermès has brought Manufacto to schools.

Hong Kong, China

Pushing open the door of one of Hermès’ fifteen repair workshops around the world is like entering a magicians’ den, where the passage of time is made to disappear. In Hong Kong, on the 22nd floor of a tower in the Admiralty district where they have laid out their tools, Christelle, Farid and Alexandre save their best tricks for objects that have a past. Unseen and unnoticed, these experienced artisans, trained in French leather goods workshops, make a well-loved bag look new again, by changing a handle, retouching an area of colour or using the saddle stitch. Restoring, repairing, it’s what their “metier” is all about.

Tokyo, Japan

Her Kelly, with its dark-hued patina, carries the memory of her mother along with her small treasures. And the pages of the diary she purchases once a year from Hermès are gradually filled with the daily journal she has kept since she was 4 years old. This is a private luxury, at once a legacy and a narrative.

London, United-Kingdom

Hermès collaborates with artists, such as the English illustrator Alice Shirley, to interpret and pay tribute to the beauty and wealth of the planet via motifs and prints.

Paris, France

Drawings on the wall, prototypes, trials… On the fifth floor of 24 Faubourg, Laurent Goblet’s workshop, a saddle-maker at Hermès for forty years, has been turned into a design office for the creation of the Arpège saddle, in collaboration with German dressage champion Jessica von Bredow-Werndl. A simple stroke, a curve, a line give birth to this fine, light dream saddle that keeps a low profile, contrary to certain museum pieces. Tree, seat, flaps, girths–it is all a matter of balance in this métier that Hermès has been mastering for more than 150 years.

Sorède, France

Hundreds of inhabitants of Sorède, in the south of France, braided whips and riding crops in hackberry wood until the car and the tractor supplanted the horse. A workshop at the foot of the Albères massif still works with this strong, supple wood, in an establishment for people with mental disabilities. Hermès entrusts them with the task of making all its riding crops and dressage kits.

Kyoto, Japan

Droplets, waves and mountains… the etchings held prisoner in blocks of stone were the inspiration for the Japanese master bookbinders’ marbled paper. Inkjet printing has transposed these effects to fabric, without ever equalling the delicacy and radiance of the patterns found by Hermès in an old album in the archives of its Lyon textile sector. After years of research, this technique of silk marbling using a compressed, through-coloured starch paste was rediscovered in Kyoto. The Nose family’s company, Kyoto Marble, is its custodian.

Pantin, France

Recognisable by their trademark white coats, which have earned them the nickname the Blouse Brothers, the Prudhomme brothers, Lionel and André, are supervisors at the Pantin leather workshop. But beyond their clothing, their skills honed by four decades with the house have given them the status of mentors, dispensing precious advice with a keen eye for the smallest detail. They pass on to their fellow leather craftsmen the secrets of flawless finishes and the requisites for a perfect bag.

London, United-Kingdom

The Goldfinger Factory spreads out under the Trellick Tower’s 98 metres of concrete. In this underprivileged part of West London, young people become talented apprentices with the support of the Fondation d’entreprise Hermès. Recycled wood and metal sheets are transformed into contemporary furniture. A social enterprise that focuses on style.

Kongoussi, Burkina Faso

Place a cooking pot upside down on the ground and draw around it. Then take a termite mound, some straw, and donkey dung to obtain the refractory material for an ecological stove. In Kongoussi in Burkina Faso, the Tiipaalga association teaches women how to build these fuel-efficient wood-burning stoves, which are less polluting and improve living conditions. This is just one idea amongst many initiatives supported locally by Hermès through the Livelihoods fund.

Montbron, France

The River Tardoire meanders through the fields where Limousine cows graze lazily. Montbron, in its picture postcard landscape, was sliding into oblivion. The opening of the Hermès leather workshop created over 250 jobs that contributed to the regeneration of this town in the Charentes area of southwestern France. Families are moving back in, a nursery class has reopened, and community activities resumed. A renaissance.

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