Hermes International : Hermès expands the ganterie-maroquinerie de Saint-Junien

Paris, 9th June 2023

HERMÈS EXPANDS THE GANTERIE-MAROQUINERIE DE SAINT-JUNIEN

(HAUTE-VIENNE, FRANCE) AND REASSERTS ITS ANCHORING

IN THE LIMOUSIN REGION.

In order to support the success of its collections, Hermès pursues the development of its production capacities. The Ganterie-Maroquinerie de Saint Junien leather goods and glove-making workshop is moving to a new building with a surface area of over 4,700 m2, just a stone's throw from the previous workshop opened in 2017. Located on the same industrial brownfield site along the banks of the Vienne in Saint-Junien, this new facility currently employs 220 artisans and will ultimately welcome 250, including 210 saddler- leatherworkers and 40 glove-makers as well as staff in management, logistics and human resources roles, among others.

With this new site, the house is perpetuating its artisanal and human culture, the spirit of passing on its exceptional know-how, and the group's social and environmental ambi- tions.

A dynamic of employment and training with strong local anchoring

In June 2017, the Ganterie de Saint-Junien, a long-standing Hermès partner acquired by the house in 1998, moved into the renovated premises of a former wool processing workshop. The manufacture of small leather goods complemented the site's glove-making activity, and 130 jobs were created to accommodate the addition of this new métier.

Today, Hermès is pursuing a recruitment strategy in close collaboration with the Pole Emploi employment services in Saint-Junien and Limoges, and with the "Porte Océane du Limousin" community of municipalities, who are supporting its development.

Committed to creating long-term jobs and preserving and developing its artisanal know-how, Hermès is drawing on the expertise of its artisan-trainers in Saint-Junien to pass on to its apprentices their exceptional skills in the fields of cutting, table work and stitching.

With this new workshop, Hermès is strengthening its role as a socially responsible company and reaffirming its intention to sustainably contribute to the region's development.

An architecture that respects the history of the site and its natural surroundings

The design of the new Ganterie-Maroquinerie was entrusted to the Clermont-based firm of architects Bruhat & Bouchaudy, which worked on the previous site as well as on the workshops for the Compagnie des Arts de la table (C.A.T.E) in Nontron (Dordogne, France). Bruhat & Bouchaudy develop a vision based on the reality and contexts of production and pay particular attention to preserving recent or historic heritage, and the natural environments in which their designs are part of.

Located in the former workshop in which wools from the neighbouring tawing works were washed, the architect has designed a contemporary manufacture that supports Hermès' environmental goals, which aim to limit the use of undeveloped land and to sit naturally within the land- scape. The materials and businesses used were locally sourced and the landscaped gardens take the topography of the land and the proximity of the river Vienne into account.

Designed to be bioclimatic, the building benefits from the inertia of stone walls and green roofs. The high glass façades on the south side are clad in wooden louvres and surrounded by terraces protected by pergolas.

The exterior surfaces around the building's entrance are made of granite quarried in Corrèze. The stones on the façades have been either retained or recovered from the site's former buildings. The roofs have been renovated with terracotta tiles identical to the original ones while the technical facilities have integrated louvered wooden structures evoking the dryers traditionally used in the tawing works.

The construction and arrangement of the production ateliers for leather goods (cutting and table work) and gloves are designed to promote the transmission of the know-how that underpins the Hermès artisanal model, in a spirit of dialogue and knowledge sharing.

The landscaped gardens, a key feature of the site, include a terrace that opens onto the surrounding nature. It follows the line of the banks of the Vienne which invite a walk in the shade of the large pussy willows and rustic maple trees. The site, on which a remarkable tree has been planted, is designed to limit soil sealing. It benefits from grass swales to collect and filter rainwater and a megaphorb zone planted with vegetation suited to wetlands, which contribute to preserving the river's natural ecosystem.

With this new workshop, Hermès reaffirms its regional anchoring in Nouvelle-Aquitaine. The house is strengthening its artisanal hub in southwestern France, which now employs more than 800 artisans across three production sites - the Maroquinerie Nontronnaise (Nontron, Dordogne), the Maroquinerie de la Tardoire (Montbron, Charentes) and the Ganterie-Maroquinerie de Saint- Junien (Limousin) - as well as the École Hermès des Savoir-Faire apprenticeship training centre in Marthon.

Since 2010, Hermès has opened eleven leather goods workshops in France, bringing the number of saddler-leatherworkers employed by the group to more than 4,700. Four other projects are currently being developed, in Riom (Puy-de-Dôme), L'Isle d'Espagnac (Charente), Loupes (Gi- ronde) and Charleville-Mézières (Ardennes), for which recruitment and training are ongoing.

Since 1837, Hermès has remained faithful to its artisan model and its humanist values. The freedom to create, the spirit of innovation, the constant search for beautiful materials, the transmission of savoir-faire of excellence, and the aesthetic of functionality all forge the singularity of Hermès, a house of objects created to last. An independent, family-owned company which encompasses 16 métiers, Hermès is dedicated to keeping the majority of its production in France through its 54 workshops and production sites and to developing its network of more than 300 stores in 45 countries. The group employs 19,700 people worldwide, including 12,400 in France, of which nearly 7,000 are craftsmen*.

Axel Dumas, a sixth-generation family member, has been Hermès CEO since 2013. Founded in 2008, the Fondation d'entreprise Hermès supports projects in the areas of artistic creation, training and the transmission of savoir-faire, biodiversity, and the preservation of the environment.

* As of 31st December 2022