Design Life-Cycle

Yanyu Yang

Des40A

Professor Cogdell

Life Cycle Project

March 15th, 2018

The Embodied Energy in Production of Hermes Exotic Handbags

Hermes is a very famous fashion manufacturer founded in Paris, France in 1837. The brand started with making horse riding leather goods such as saddles and nowadays has branches ranging from leather goods to furniture. Hermes handbags not only are well-known for its great quality of making by craftsmen but also are famous for its extremely expensive prices. One Hermes exotic handbags at least will cost about 40,000 dollars and the price can rise far beyond this base with no limitation. Many people collect Hermes handbags as artworks and those handbags will be stored on shelves instead used. The incredibly high price comes from the high quality of raw materials and detailed handmade production. The huge portion of handbags production is handmade from leather cutting to parts assembling. Therefore, not so many forms of energy are involved in the process. However, the manufacture of secondary raw materials used to produce the bags requires many complicated productions and a lot of forms of energy are used during the process. Chemical, kinetic, thermal and geothermal energy are all needed in order to make a Hermes exotic leather handbags.

The most significant component of a Hermes exotic handbags is exotic skin leather. The skin types include crocodile, alligator, lizard, and ostrich. Those leather are first extracted from the animals and then manufactured at tanneries. The first step of leather making is preservation. Hides are salted and stored in a Beam House for up to 30 days. During preservation, chemical reactions occur and electricities are used to power up the process. After preservation, hides are defleshed so as to remove extra wastes on the back side of hides. Either human labor or machines are used to deflesh therefore kinetic energy is involved. Then hides will go through a series of chemical reactions and physical changes before it is ready for tanning. One process is softening the hide by treating it with lime. The acid on lime react with molecules on hides and soften the texture. Tanning is the next procedure that changes pre-tanned hide into leather. There are three types of tanning: vegetable tannage, chromium tannage, and combination tannage. Combination tannage includes both vegetables and chromium. All three teenage use chemical reactions to change hide to leather. Then leathers will be dyed in different color for later use. For Hermes exotic skins are dyed into a variety of colors so dyeing is a significant process for making Hermes exotic leather. The computer is used to ensure color consistency and uniformity. Chemical and geothermal energy are used. The last step is finishing, mostly are done by human using kinetic energy. Leather will be inspected for quality and then shipped to customers.

Another raw material used to produce Hermes exotic bags are metallic hardware. That hardware is made from different metal by craftsmen at Hermes factory. Commonly used materials include gold plated or palladium finish but there are also 24K plated gold, silver palladium, ruthenium, burnished, and guilloche for customization. The major energy in metallic hardware productions is the geothermal energy, heat. Metals are heated closely to melting point and welded to the desired shape by craftsmen. Handles of handbags are made with metal chains and then wrapped with leather. There is also a lock and a key come with the handbags. The bag can be locked from opening and each key and lock is unique to each bag with a special serial number. The metal used will be consistent throughout the bag. The metal color is categorized into silver and gold. Silver hardware will be at a lower price than gold hardware. There is customized hardware which the metal pieces are embellished with diamonds and crystals. Those decorations will rise the bag price even higher so they are only available for special order. The process of putting hardware and leather together is all by hand so the process takes a long time. This is why making one Hermes exotic leather bag is so slow because the composition is so detailed and precise. Craftsmen worked at Hermes factory are the most common prime movers in the industry. Mostly kinetic energy is used in the process from sticking to assembling. The making of one exotic leather bags takes hours even days. The rarity makes exotic leather bags so desired and loved by people who want to have exclusive and unique products.

After the handbags are made, they will be stored in a linen bag and put into the iconic orange box ready for shipping. The handbags will travel all around the world and be delivered to the Hermes stores. During the process of transition, gas and oil are used in order to power up plane and trucks. This is the major energy consumption in the process of distribution. Those exotic leather bags will be kept in the back of the store without showing it one front shelf because exotic bags are exclusive for VIP customers that have been using Hermes products for years. Exotic handbags are made rarely and many customers will be waiting for a long time to order one exotic handbag. Therefore, those bags will not stay in the store for so long and will be bought by customers immediately after they arrive. After the handbag is made and sold to a customer, the vast majority of energy consumption is done. Some people are Hermes handbags collectors and they will keep the leather bags on shelves as an artwork without using it too much. Especially for exotic handbags, they are so rare and valuable that people will spend a lot of effort on maintaining their value.

The next time those Hermes exotic bags require a lot of energy usage is when they are ready for recycling. Mostly the handbags will not be recycled because they can be kept as valuable collections for years. However, there are Hermes exotic handbags given up by people and ready for recycling. Since the leather is of good quality, they can be decomposed into small leather pieces and those leather can be used to make small leather goods. The metals used in the bags can be recycled by melting and welding to other shapes. Recycling of handbags requires kinetic energy and geothermal energy. Chemical energy can also be involved in the leather needs to change color. At last, the bags might get thrown away as trashes after years of usage and they will be decomposed as other trashes and their thousands of dollars of value will disappear. That is the end of the life cycle of a Hermes exotic leather bags.

Reviewing the whole life cycle of a Hermes exotic bag, most energy is consumed at the beginning when exotic skins are made from hides to usable leathers. A lot of chemical and geothermal energy is involved in the process. The work is mostly done by machines. Then during the process of bag making, the human becomes the major source of energy and kinetic energy is used most often. Some physical change and geothermal energy usage happen during the process of metallic hardware making and a lot of energy is consumed in order to heat up the metals. After the bag making by craftsmen, another energy usage is transportation and distribution. This is the last state where the Hermes exotic bags require a lot of energy.

Comparing the energy usage of other handbags, Hermes exotic handbags only require a relatively low amount of energy because of the efficiency of making. Tanneries can supply exotic leather to many different manufacturers at the same time so the amounts of energy used in tanning leather are roundly equal for several handbag factories. In addition, many other handbag factories don’t make handbags all by hand like Hermes, many factories take help from machines in order to increase the amount of production. Therefore, factories use machines to produce bags will use much more energy than Hermes factories. There are only a few manufacturers like Hermes that will devote so many efforts and time to making on handbags.  This is also the reason why Hermes exotic handbags are more valuable than other high fashion brand handbags.

In conclusion, the production of Hermes exotic leather bags is unique and slow. Not too much energy is required in the production because Hermes doesn’t use machine tools to assemble the bags. Hermes doesn’t care about the efficiency of bag making. Instead, Hermes takes a closer look at the quality of each handbag made. Although the production is not so environmentally beneficial because tanneries emit a lot of chemical wastes, it is better than many other factories that use a huge amount of electricities and produce products intensively with machines. There are both pros and cons in the energy consumption of Hermes exotic bags.

Works Cited

Adan, R.I.Y. (2000) Crocodile farming: a multi-million dollar industry. SEAFDEC Asian Aquaculture, 22(3), pp.22-23, 28.

Catry, Bernard. “The great pretenders: the magic of luxury goods.” Business Strategy Review, vol. 14, no. 3, 2003, pp. 10–17., doi:10.1111/1467-8616.00267.

“Cities Certificate for Hermes Exotic Skin Bags.” Bags of Luxury, www.bagsofluxury.com/guides/cites-certificate-hermes-exotic-leathers-skins/.

“Figure 2f from: Heller K, Rulik B (2016) Ctenosciara alexanderkoenigi sp. n. (Diptera: Sciaridae), an exotic invader in Germany? Biodiversity Data Journal 4: e6460. https://Doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.4.e6460.” doi:10.3897/bdj.4.e6460.figure2f.

Galante, Meredith. “Go Inside The Factory Where $10,000 Hermès Purses Are Crafted By Hand.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 25 July 2012,www.businessinsider.com/how-herms-bags-are-made-2012-7.

“How Hermès Bags are Made.” Baghunter, baghunter.com/blogs/news/how-hermes-birkin-kelly-bags-are-made.

“Hermes Leather Guide.” Baghunter, https://baghunter.com/pages/hermes-leather-guide\

Mull, Amanda. “10 Things You Might Not Know About the Hermès Birkin.” PurseBlog, 27 Dec. 2017, www.purseblog.com/hermes/10-things-you-might-not-know-about-the-hermes-birkin/.

Mull, Amanda. “You can now watch "Hearts and Crafts" on Hermes.Com.” PurseBlog, 2 Feb. 2012, www.purseblog.com/hermes/you-can-now-watch-hearts-and-crafts-on-hermes-com/.

Thorbjarnarson, John. “Crocodile Tears and Skins: International Trade, Economic Constraints, and Limits to the Sustainable Use of Crocodilians.” Conservation Biology, vol. 13, no. 3, 1999, pp. 465–470., doi:10.1046/j.1523-1739.1999.00011.x.

Jiawen Shou

Des40A

Professor Cogdell

March 15th, 2018

Raw Materials in the Production of Hermes Exotic Leather Handbags

Hermes is a high fashion luxury leather goods manufacturer loved by famous celebrities and royal families. Hermes is founded in Paris, France in 1837. It is well known for the high quality of production by crafted bag-makers, the surprisingly expensive prices, and the rare amount of production. Exotic leather handbags are the special discipline in Hermes handbags that are the most expensive and rare. Those handbags require a long-term of precise productions and are not shown in Hermes stores. Only a few exotic leather handbags are made each year, and they are sold exclusively to Hermes VIP customers. Therefore, the rarity and costliness of those handbags make them so popular among celebrities. Looking at the production, raw materials such as crocodile and alligator skins are commonly used. Other raw materials include wax strings and metals. There are many controversies about the use of exotic animal skins. The raw materials used are simple but not so eco-friendly.

The most important raw materials are exotic animal skins. The exotic skins used to make handbags include crocodile, alligator, lizard, and ostrich. Those animal skins are firstly manufactured into secondary raw materials by factories. Then Hermes will buy raw leathers from factories and make handbags from cutting and stitching. Hermes company doesn’t provide exact information on which factories they buy the leathers from, but there are hundreds of leather factories across the world that supply exotic leathers to luxury brands. Firstly, skins are preserved to stop from deteriorating by salting, chilling, freezing and the use of biocides. Since exotic leathers are usually unstable and sensitive, the process of preservation is carefully and detailed. The natural color, lines, and texture are kept to its original form as possible. Then, leather is soaked, tanned and dried in order to change the organic molecules on animal skins into stable materials. Chemicals are used in the process. The most important steps in all leather making process are dyeing. Chemical dyes are used in order to make vibrant and unique colors on leathers because Hermes is famous for its colorful choices of handbags. For example, one pink color can have a lot of variations on Hermes color palette. Rose lipstick, flamingo and rose Jaipur are all different types of pink that Hermes named and make handbags in. When animal skins are transferred into exotic leathers, they are sent to the Hermes companies for manufacture.

Once raw leather skins are delivered to the factories of Hermes, the life cycle of a Hermes exotic leather bag will officially begin. From cutting leather to stitching the bag, professional bag-makers will devote all his/her time into making that one handbag all perfect in details. Based on data from Business Insider’s article, How Hermes Bags are Made, the factory can only produce 15 handbags in different color and texture in a month because the bags are all handmade. Leather cutting is the beginning of the process. Leather cutter will inspect the crocodile skin and determine the ideal piece to make the bag. Any imperfections on the leather are marked and will not be used in production.

Crocodile skin is an iconic exotic leather used by Hermes and there is two major type of skins used. The Nile crocodiles from central America and Africa and the American alligators born and bred in America. The Nile crocodile is less expensive but still holds a good quality of leather among other crocodile skins. The skin is less bony and easy to work with. The belly part of the skin is mostly used because it’s soft and contains fewer bones. Nile crocodile leather is usually dyed in different colors by tanneries or manufacturer. The American alligator is the most expensive type of exotic skin. It is mostly produced from southern America. The skin contains fewest bones so dyeing and sewing American alligator leather are easiest. It is also popular and rare in stock which makes American alligator skin handbags so exclusive and prized.

Similar to the crocodile, ostrich is also used as exotic leather for Hermes handbags. The leather comes from African ostrich farmed for their feather, skins, and meat. This leather is easily recognized by the multiple pores on it. The difficult production process of this type of leather makes it a popular exotic leather. Lizard is another exotic skin Hermes used. African monitor lizards are used to produce this type of leather. Since the size of monitor lizard is small, the lizard is used to produce smaller handbags or leather goods. Also, Lizard skin requires a lot of attention to prevent from drying and peeling and must be kept at a comfortable temperature.

Other than leather, metal is the other significant material used in production. Metallic hardware is used to assemble parts of the bag such as the handles. The metallic hardware used on handbags usually come from gold plated or palladium finish. However, there is also rare customized metallic hardware including 24K plated gold, silver palladium, ruthenium, burnished, and guilloche. Four metallic studs are installed on the bottom of the bag in order to protect the leather come contacting different surfaces and get damaged. Another unique feature for Hermes handbags is lock and keys. They are made of the same raw materials like other metallic hardware. There are serial numbers engraved on the lock and keys and this is used to distinguish authentic Hermes handbags from fake ones. Metals are melted to malleable in a bubbling bath of hot steam and water and then heated to the extreme temperature by fire. The chains used as the handles for handbags are all welded by hand. For the production of one handbag, the making of one handle takes up to five hours.

Then, special wax strings are used to stitch the bag. Those wax string are made by French dressmaker. Bag makers will spend days to stitch the bag step by step. The stitches will look uniform while remaining the feeling of handcrafts. Since the bags are all hand-made, the production rate is lower than bags produced with the machine. What’s different between Hermes and other high fashion brand is that one Hermes handbag will be assigned to one specific bag-maker and that person will be responsible for all parts of the production. Each handbag is unique from one another.  

Since Hermes is famous for its high quality of leather and crafts, Hermes exotic bags always have incredibly high prices start at around 40000 dollars. However, there are a lot of controversies about the use of animal leather. Thorbjarnarson in his research, “Crocodile Tears and Skins: International Trade, Economic Constraints, and Limits to the Sustainable Use of Crocodilians”, points out that there are unregulated commercial hunting of crocodile in many countries due to people’s demand of making huge money by selling crocodile skins. According to Thorbjarnarson, 3-3.5 million of alligators were killed in Louisiana between 1800 and 1993 which caused a serious shrink of wild alligators population. There are also rumors about high fashion industries buying exotic leather from tanneries that don’t treat animals correctly. Hermes, as one leading brand in the high fashion industry, is blamed for using animal skins to make handbags. Many graphical videos were released into the internet by media and animal protection organizations. Based on CNBC news, “PETA protests in HK on claims of Hermes Birkin crocodile cruelty” on Dec.15 2015,  PETA protested in Hong Kong against Hermes for using crocodile skin to produce handbags.

There are still many news and controversies nowadays on both major and social media but Hermes never tend to officially respond to the use of exotic leather. Like many other high fashion brands such as Chanel and Louis Vuitton, exotic skins are still a very popular choice of leather for many customers. Especially for Hermes, exotic skin handbags are receiving a long waitlist of orders.

In conclusion, the basic raw materials used to produce a Hermes exotic skin handbags are all secondary raw materials that have already been manufactured once by factories. Major raw materials include crocodile, alligator, lizard, ostrich, wax strings, dyes, 24K plated gold, silver palladium, ruthenium, burnished, and guilloche. A finished handbag will include a leather outlook, a leather-wrapped metal handle, metallic hardware, lock and keys and small leather decorations. The overall production of handbags are handmade and not too much materials are used. The production process is very slow but worth the time it takes. The raw materials used aren’t environmental friendly because it includes chemical dyes and animal skins. While many major clothing brands common in life nowadays are trying to make efforts on protecting the environment, high fashion brands rarely consider environmental conditions in their design. However, their design and products are still loved by people. Maybe one day in the future, the trends in the fashion industry will change and people will lose interests in exotic skins.

Works Cited

Adan, R.I.Y. (2000) Crocodile farming: a multi-million dollar industry. SEAFDEC Asian Aquaculture, 22(3), pp.22-23, 28.

Catry, Bernard. “The great pretenders: the magic of luxury goods.” Business Strategy Review, vol. 14, no. 3, 2003, pp. 10–17., doi:10.1111/1467-8616.00267.

“Cities Certificate for Hermes Exotic Skin Bags.” Bags of Luxury, www.bagsofluxury.com/guides/cites-certificate-hermes-exotic-leathers-skins/.

“Greenberg Traurig.” Home - Spinneybeck, www.spinneybeck.com/index.php?%2Fabout-how-leather-is-made.

“Figure 2f from: Heller K, Rulik B (2016) Ctenosciara alexanderkoenigi sp. n. (Diptera: Sciaridae), an exotic invader in Germany? Biodiversity Data Journal 4: e6460. https://Doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.4.e6460.” doi:10.3897/bdj.4.e6460.figure2f.

Galante, Meredith. “Go Inside The Factory Where $10,000 Hermès Purses Are Crafted By Hand.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 25 July 2012,www.businessinsider.com/how-herms-bags-are-made-2012-7.

“How Leather is Made.” Leather, www.mooreandgiles.com/leather/resources/how-leather-is-made/.

Mendal, Abram. “Exotic Leather Blog.” Exotic Skin Panels: What Designers Need to Know, www.panamleathers.com/blog/exotic-skin-panels-what-designers-need-to-know.

Thorbjarnarson, John. “Crocodile Tears and Skins: International Trade, Economic Constraints, and Limits to the Sustainable Use of Crocodilians.” Conservation Biology, vol. 13, no. 3, 1999, pp. 465–470., doi:10.1046/j.1523-1739.1999.00011.x.

W-Fowler, Anicca Solutions A. “How is leather made?” Advice on leather care, leather cleaning and more brought to you by BLC, the leather experts, www.all-about-leather.co.uk/what-is-leather/how-is-leather-made.htm.

Image Sources

https://www.bagsofluxury.com/guides/hermes-exotic-skin-guide/

https://www.bagsofluxury.com/hermes/birkin-bag/orange-ostrich-30cm-b210/