Ophélie Artaud 16:18 pm, April 15, 2023

With sales up 22% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2023, the luxury brand Hermès continues its development. New factories in France, transmission of know-how... Guillaume de Seynes, Managing Director of the upstream and participations division of the Hermès group, detailed on Europe 1 the ambitions of the brand, attached to made in France.

INTERVIEW

It is one of the jewels of French luxury. The Hermès brand continues to make people dream and grow. As proof, the brand published this Friday its figures and its sales increased by 22% over one year in the first quarter of 2023, after an already record year 2022. Among the products that make the success of Hermès, its leather goods totally manufactured in France. To pursue this know-how, the brand continues to open factories in France.

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Invited to the microphone of Europe 1, Guillaume de Seynes, CEO of the upstream and participations division of the Hermès group, returned to the importance of made in France for the luxury brand. Because French know-how is "sought after by our customers around the world and in Asia in particular. Hermès is a house that developed in France on the basis of this very old know-how," he explains.

Handicraft

"There is of course leather goods: we were born in the harness and saddle trades. But there are also the silk trades with our historic manufacturing center in the Lyon region. We always try to go where the best know-how is," adds Guillaume de Seynes.

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An artisanal know-how to which the brand is also attached. "We have thousands of artisans all over France who make our leather goods and we remain committed to this manufacturing model. This is what is called a bag man, that is to say a craftsman who makes the bag through the different stages of hand sewing, finishing, polishing ... This artisanal model is obviously linked to our history, to the fact that we started from the saddlery, then we applied this know-how to leather goods and they are the basis of the quality of the Hermès object which is always our objective, "says the general manager of the upstream and participations division.

Passing on Hermès know-how

To meet growing customer demand, Hermès opened new factories in France, particularly in Eure, Ardennes and Haute-Vienne. The group also trains its future craftsmen, "because the way Hermès practices this craft is quite different from all the others. We wanted to be recognized by the National Education to award a CAP of saddler-leather and we have the status of CFA. Now, we are going to develop a clean school that will train future craftsmen," concludes Guillaume de Seynes at the microphone of Europe 1.