The L'Isle-d'Espagnac workshop will join the southwest centre, which currently includes the Maroquinerie de Montbron (opened in 2015), as well as the leather goods workshops Maroquinerie de Nontron and the Ganterie Maroquinerie de Saint-Junien for gloves and leather goods . merchandise workshop, which has been operating in the region for more than 25 years. With this new headquarters, Hermès reaffirms its regional integration and its confidence in the development of its artisanal know-how in Nouvelle-Aquitaine.
Hermès will recruit staff at the Hermes des savoir-faire School, an apprentice training center accredited by the French Ministry of Education, inaugurated in September 2022 in Marthon, in the southwestern region, a few kilometers from Nontron and Montbron. The artisans-trainers of the house are responsible for transmitting the know-how and culture of Hermes. Certified by the Ministry of Education, these advisors train apprentices for the French CAP professional qualification in leatherworking and saddlery, or for CQP professional certificates in leather cutting and sewing.
Hermes is expanding its artisanal leather goods operations with a new workshop in L'Isle-d'Espagnac, France, set to open in 2025. The facility will employ 260 artisans trained in-house and from the Ecole Hermes des savoir-faire. The workshop will emphasize regional integration and sustainability, using vernacular materials and rooftop solar panels.
Two cohorts of 40 apprentices join the Hermes des Savoir-Faire School in Marthon each year. The next class will begin training in September 2024, for which applications are currently open, the company said in a press release.
This new facility is located 4 kilometers from the center of Angoulême, on the site of the former Bel-Air airfield, currently ZAC (urban development zone). The construction plans for the new workshop have been drawn up by Bordeaux-based architects Guiraud-Manenc, using vernacular materials for the timber structure, straw-based insulation and Charente stone cladding, all sourced from local companies. To limit its energy consumption, the site will incorporate 1,800 square meters of solar panels on the roof. The building is designed to be a positive energy construction, in line with the Hermès Group's environmental ambitions, and complies with the Harmonie framework, the house's guidelines for sustainable real estate.
Hermes establishes long-term relationships with its local partners. To prepare these new facilities, the house has had the support of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Development and Innovation Agency and the Greater Angoulême Urban Community. For the development of the site, Hermes is also collaborating with the Poitiers Education Authority, the Greta Poitou-Charentes adult education services in Angouleme and Greta-CFA Aquitaine, and the France Travail employment service.
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