The new leather goods workshop “draws on the expertise and proximity of the group’s Ile-de-France craft centre, which houses 670 artisans,” said the brand in a statement. The site, where around 120 people already work, will eventually employ 260 people.  For this project, as with its others, Hermès is working in close collaboration with local partners including the employment centre, the Greta adult training centre, and the Flora Tristan de Montereau high school, in order to recruit locally. The brand is also open to candidates who do not have knowledge of the industry, planning to take them in and offer them training or apprenticeships before integrating them into the group. 

With this inauguration, Hermès is also highlighting its sustainable commitment. In order to carry out the project, the brand has rehabilitated an industrial wasteland measuring 7.2 hectares and has planted over 200 trees as well as thousands of scrubs in the garden adjacent to the factory. The site is also equipped with 250 square metres of hybrid solar panels and full LED lighting, according to the brand.  Since 2010, Hermès has opened nine leather goods factories in France, bringing the number of saddler and leather-working artisans in the group to over 4,000. The brand does not intend to stop expanding its artisanal manufacturing capacity and has already planned the opening of a leather goods workshop in Guyenne in Gironde in September and also has three other manufacturing projects underway in France in Louviers (Eure), Tournes (Ardennes), and Riom (Puy-de-Dôme), it said.