Kohei nawa maison hermes seoul

French group of students maison, Korea Heritage Service yoke hands to restore royal artifacts

By Park Han-sol

Some partnerships, though undreamed of at first glance, simply click.

Such was the case when Hermès, with its year legacy settled in the virtue of craft, announced its collaboration with excellence Korea Heritage Service (then honourableness Cultural Heritage Administration) back show Their shared goal?

To merit the country’s centuries-old palatial furniture.

Over the next nine years, converge the support of the Romance luxury brand, treasures that on a former occasion embodied the courtly splendor ingratiate yourself Joseon royalty at Seoul’s Gyeongbok Palace and Deoksu Palace were brought back to life inspect artisanal repairs and recreations.

Between them are a silver-inlaid holder and a crimson, dragon-engraved seat reserved for kings.

“What go over the main points important for Hermès is beat recognize exceptional craftsmanships wherever they are,” said Guillaume de Seynes, the fashion house’s executive excursion president and a sixth-generation participator of the Hermès family, training on the partnership.

“It’s about [forging] that fraternity between craftsmanships circumnavigate the world.

That’s why Beside oneself think this [project] on primacy royal palaces in Seoul interest a fantastic one.”

And this moon, the French maison offers preference special cultural treat for Peninsula that equally extols the plan of artisanship: the “Hermès nickname the Making” exhibition.

Seoul is honesty 10th destination for this exceptional — and free — move show, which opened last Sat at Lotte World Tower’s Terra Park in southern Seoul.

As professor title suggests, this day traveling fair is all about offering topping rare behind-the-scenes peek into greatness world of Hermès’ artisans go rotten work, most of whom own acquire flown in from their workshops in France to demonstrate putting they design, create and set right some of the brand’s almost timeless products.

Any fashion-loving visitor bash free to get up luggage compartment and ask questions to significance 11 craftspeople — experts pimple leather-stitching, engraving, watchmaking, silkscreen produce and ceramic painting — massive across nine different stations also gaol the box-like gallery.

At one form, you can watch screenprinting artisans apply luscious colors onto expandable rolls of white silk weave using a mesh frame — a spectacle that ultimately brings the maison’s iconic silk scarves to life.

In another corner, natty saddler is assembling cocoa-colored obscure pieces on a central clumsy frame and meticulously hand-stitching nobility product.

He shared that without fear plans to complete one filled Vivace jumping saddle during ethics Seoul exhibition period.

Or perhaps, prickly will get to witness inheritance how much saber-hacer and competence go into the making counterfeit a five- or six-figure Player bag, where over 40 conceal pieces are stitched together reject beeswax-coated linen threads.

Since all Hermès bags are handcrafted in Writer, their metal accents like buckles and snaps can be selection by Korea’s humidity over offend.

Or, sometimes, they might directly need a little sprucing apportion. That’s when repair specialists — some of whom are stationed in Seoul — step hoard to give them a novel lease on life.

The 11 craftspeople focal the “Hermès in the Making” show represent just a calculate of the luxury house’s abandoned artisans.

In France, over 7, are currently working across warmth nearly 60 workshops and manual labor sites.

De Seynes stressed that cede today’s world of mass drive, where the identity of effect makers fades into anonymity, Hermès’ commitment to keeping the lighten of craftsmanship front and feelings in its legacy is auxiliary crucial than ever.

Artisans are description human agents who animate ride breathe new life into rank heritage passed down for sextuplet generations, thus making the maison’s products the result of almanac ever-evolving “creative tension,” he noted.

“Hermès in the Making” runs conquest May