Do you know how a Birkin is made?

[Hermezzy]

Hi dear friends-

As we know, there is a surplus of information about the making of a kelly (videos/articles). At the various metier shows that H puts on the bag the artisan always seems to be making is a kelly. We know that the kelly bag is essentially the "graduation exercise" that H artisans must produce to gain entrance into the full-ranked cadre of leatherworkers once the training period is over. We know the handle of a kelly is particularly hard to make, taking 3-4 hrs alone, many attempts at first, and we know that retourne kellys must be turned inside out as the final step of construction.

For some reason, I cannot find nearly the same amount of information about the making of a birkin. @880 was kind enough to produce an article (https://madisonavenuecouture.com/blogs/news/how-hermes-birkin-bags-are-made) and that was enjoyable to read. Yet, I cannot find any videos of birkins being made and the information seems to be more scant generally.

Do any of you have links/info that show how a birkin is made? Articles, videos, or interviews? Any reliable info generally? Given the popularity of this bag, I can't help but think many of us would like to know more.

Many thanks in advance for any contributions...

 

[periogirl28]

May I just add this here. If you have been to this little room at FSH, I believe this is everything you need to sew a Birkin. The leather pieces are cut by one specialist artisan and I understand this "kit" is presented to one craftsperson who will complete the bag from start to finish. Normal Birkins need to be turned and the newer Selliers do not, same as Kellys. I look toward to reading other contributions here. Hi @Hermezzy!

 

[Hermezzy]

May I just add this here. If you have been to this little room at FSH, I believe this is everything you need to sew a Birkin. The leather pieces are cut by one specialist artisan and I understand this "kit" is presented to one craftsperson who will complete the bag from start to finish. Normal Birkins need to be turned and the newer Selliers do not, same as Kellys. I look toward to reading other contributions here. Hi @Hermezzy!View attachment 5754842

You are wonderful for offering this, dear friend! I always smile when I see your contributions. What a marvelous picture.

 

[periogirl28]

You are wonderful for offering this, dear friend! I always smile when I see your contributions. What a marvelous picture.

I always find your enthusiasm for learning about Hermes so refreshing and endearing.

 

[KellyObsessed]

Interesting. Are the handles in this photo? I can't see anything that has the shape of where they attach to the bag.

 

[J'adoreHermes]

Looks like they included pieces for a Kelly, too?

 

[Hermezzy]

What is unclear to me is the amount of saddle stitching done on this bag vs machine work. There seems to be an open debate about that, with some posts on here saying that much of a birkin is machine made. Also unclear is the truth of "one artisan, one bag"- another thread on here featuring a podcast with Peter Nitz and Tanner Leatherstein purports that the bags are worked on by various people. Yet, I spoke to a person who was a trained Hermes artisan and made birkins, kellys, and bolides and that person stands by "one artisan, one bag"...

I don't know what to believe.

 

[BreezyE]

My SA said to me "you don't have to be gentle with your birkin. They make them inside out then flip them so they are very durable!" I thought that was so cool!

 

[xiaoxiao]

Love this thread already, reminds me of the topics we used to cover back in the good old days.

If my memory serves me right, years ago there was a thread talking precisely about this: machine vs handy work. Without going into much details, as some of the posts were ultimately deleted because back in the days the counterfeiters used to come here to gather information, @bababebi chimed in on the direction of the threads and how to spot machine vs handmade. Turns out, it was quite a lot.

I was talking to a Hermes Craftman about this a couple of years ago: my understanding is that Constance almost made entirely by hand, whereas there is a good amount of machine sewing for Birkins. The older birkins were made much, much better than the new ones (surprise to no one), and that absolutely, each Craftman works on its own bag. And it was a thrilled to see their own creation coming back for spa from time to time. And also, a fun little fact, according to the said craftperson: they all love Barenia!

What is unclear to me is the amount of saddle stitching done on this bag vs machine work. There seems to be an open debate about that, with some posts on here saying that much of a birkin is machine made. Also unclear is the truth of "one artisan, one bag"- another thread on here featuring a podcast with Peter Nitz and Tanner Leatherstein purports that the bags are worked on by various people. Yet, I spoke to a person who was a trained Hermes artisan and made birkins, kellys, and bolides and that person stands by "one artisan, one bag"...

I don't know what to believe.

 

[Hermezzy]

Love this thread already, reminds me of the topics we used to cover back in the good old days.

If my memory serves me right, years ago there was a thread talking precisely about this: machine vs handy work. Without going into much details, as some of the posts were ultimately deleted because back in the days the counterfeiters used to come here to gather information, @bababebi chimed in on the direction of the threads and how to spot machine vs handmade. Turns out, it was quite a lot.

I was talking to a Hermes Craftman about this a couple of years ago: my understanding is that Constance almost made entirely by hand, whereas there is a good amount of machine sewing for Birkins. The older birkins were made much, much better than the new ones (surprise to no one), and that absolutely, each Craftman works on its own bag. And it was a thrilled to see their own creation coming back for spa from time to time. And also, a fun little fact, according to the said craftperson: they all love Barenia!

Thank you for this wonderful contribution. I’ve heard that kelly selliers are also heavily handmade/sewn. And I’ve also heard the older birkins (older Hermes bags in general) were more labor intensive. One credible source says there was a “golden era” of sorts- the 1990s - early 2000s- when artisan training was at a peak and before H started significantly expanding capability. This is one reason I find vintage bags so appealing. If birkins are largely machine made it would explain the lack of videos and articles about their construction, compared to kellys. Perhaps there wasn’t such a large construction gap in the first few yrs after the bag was made?


I wonder if the hac is less machine constructed. I do hear it isn’t made at every leather workshop.

 

[Koucs]

Thank you for this wonderful contribution. I’ve heard that kelly selliers are also heavily handmade/sewn. And I’ve also heard the older birkins (older Hermes bags in general) were more labor intensive. One credible source says there was a “golden era” of sorts- the 1990s - early 2000s- when artisan training was at a peak and before H started significantly expanding capability. This is one reason I find vintage bags so appealing. If birkins are largely machine made it would explain the lack of videos and articles about their construction, compared to kellys. Perhaps there wasn’t such a large construction gap in the first few yrs after the bag was made?


I wonder if the hac is less machine constructed. I do hear it isn’t made at every leather workshop.

Having the opportunity to watch a veteran (22 years at Hermès !) artisan making part of a kelly sellier, I can say that you are right, it is a heavily handmade bag...the handle being the most challenging part ! the side panels are also handsewn which makes the bag rigid and sturdy...

A link regarding the machine vs handsewn comparison : https://www.malle2luxe.fr/home/luxu...-saddle-and-a-sewing-machine-hermes-mail-bag/

Based on this article and others, it seems that the (retourné) Birkin use hand sewing only for the flap top stitches (due to the many layers of leather involved) and on the handles attach points to the bag...

I also agree that there was a "golden era" at Hermès, I would say aroung 1980 to 1995, where they had
- impeccable craftmanship as they were many more trained people than today, and demand was much lower
- access to much more leather type of top quality than today (think heavy box, pecari, all weather buffalo, elephant, seal etc...)
- last but not least : much more design available (think attaché case, the best quality I've ever seen, toiletry cases luggages/suitcases and much more small leather goods than today)

 

[jimmyshoogirl]

Interesting thread! I will be following along.

I think this question might be slightly ot and a bit basic lol. If the retourne sounds/seems more labor intensive with the flipping the leather inside out, why does sellier cost more?

 

[hermesgeek]

My SA said to me "you don't have to be gentle with your birkin. They make them inside out then flip them so they are very durable!" I thought that was so cool!

This is one of the processes for retourne I’m amazed at! I can’t imagine a birkin/kelly being flipped in box leather, more so a shiny exotic!

 

[hermesgeek]

Interesting thread! I will be following along.

I think this question might be slightly ot and a bit basic lol. If the retourne sounds/seems more labor intensive with the flipping the leather inside out, why does sellier cost more?

I’ve been told that more skilled artisans work on sellier because the stitching can be seen, which has to be more aligned and perfect as compared to retourne where it’s hidden so stitching doesn’t have to be as perfectly done. Nevertheless I think stitching inside retourne bags are as perfect as sellier, artisans just have more pressure on sellier.

 

[Koucs]

Interesting thread! I will be following along.

I think this question might be slightly ot and a bit basic lol. If the retourne sounds/seems more labor intensive with the flipping the leather inside out, why does sellier cost more?

In the case of a "retourné" -> machine stiching for the side panels, which is easier, and then at the end you have to flip the bag inside out, which is a very careful operation, but not that long, and since the stitching cannot be seen, you can accomodate a slightly irregular stitch...

In the case of a "sellier", you need to manually align and stich the whole side panel with sellier method (linen thread + beeswax), and when it is done, you have to sand and finish the sides (paint and beeswax to makes them waterproof) -> everything is visible in the end, so the stitching has to be perfect... much more labor intensive : it takes about 45 minutes (for an experienced craftperson) to stich a single side panel, so 90 minutes to stich both of them... so yes, in the end, a sellier bag is more expensive to make...