Monthly Archives: May 2012

Hermès Leather Forever exhibition – 6 Burlington Gardens, London – Ends 27th May 2012.
Luxury French accessories brand Hermès is celebrating its 175th birthday with an exhibition at London’s Royal Academy of Arts.

A free exhibition in London is always worth a visit and this particular one is all about leather, so we could hardly resist, could we?

Home of the iconic Kelly and Birkin handbags, Hermès are true artisans in leather. Their skill, craftsmanship, ingenuity and sense of humour are all displayed in this exhibition through various objects from brightly coloured and irresistibly tactile skins to The Duke of Windsor’s leather wheel barrow (to carry gift for Wallis Simpson).

Possibly the highlight of the exhibition (for us certainly) is the work-table at which one of Hermès craft women, Nadia, was busy constructing a Kelly bag before our very eyes. The table scattered with her tools of the trade was something to behold. Nadia,  although not particularly chatty, was open to giving away a few tricks of the trade while we looked on in awe at this beautiful bag taking form.

There were no photos allowed, but some braver visitors than us have posted these on the internet (above and below).

The exhibition is surprisingly large, spanning over 12 themed rooms and took us a good hour to get round.   It was a truly eye-opening experience even for us and we work with leather every day.

Well worth a visit if you’re in London this weekend – it closes on 27th so it’s your last chance.
If you can’t make it then the Hermès website has a great walk through of the exhibition here.