While it's no secret that we all love Hermès and the Birkin bag there comes a point when we just have to say enough is enough. Hermès has been perpetuating this myth (and allowing others to perpetuate it for them) that all leather-goods at Hermès are saddle stitched by hand. In this Real Real video (above) about authenticating a Birkin bag the host incorrectly states that Hermes craftsmen "hand sew every stitch". This is totally false. While some portions of a leather Birkin bag are indeed hand stitched, much of the bag is machine stitched. While the image of a craftsman with a leather apron sitting at an old workbench hand stitching a bag does indeed make for a lovely visual - and a great advertising campaign - it simply isn't reality.
Much is made of how Hermès is so secretive and not forthcoming with information. Well perhaps this is why. Maybe they don't want to shatter the image that so many people have in their minds of this old world technique.
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