The Fondation d’entreprise Hermes is expanding its program under the title Manufacto, the Skills Factory based on the outcomes of the successful pilot year. The program, aiming to promote artisan skills in wood-working, leather and saddlery to public, has been extended to twenty-eight schools, reaching some 850 pupils and involving boards of education in Paris, Creteil, Nice and Lyon.

The scheme was devised in 2016 and piloted in six Paris schools for a full school year. Working with pupils aged 6 to 18, three skilled group leaders – an artisan joiner or leather-worker, an assistant and a teacher, aimed to create their own decorative objects through a series of practical, technical workshops.

Photos Benoît Teillet © Fondation d’entreprise Hermès