Feature: Hèrmes brings hand-crafted luxury leather to Scotland

• Hrmes are bringing their exclusive products to Glasgow

Family photographs take pride of place on the desk, a fountain pen and horse's hoof inkwell (Hrmes, let's not forget, began life as a saddle and harness maker) sit poised, ready for action. And there, to the right of the fireplace, is a secret doorway; a high-class escape hatch, if you like.

An epic collector, keen traveller and third generation head of the luxury leather company in the early 1900s, Emile-Maurice Hrmes was under strict instructions from his family to curb the spending before it got out of control.

Unperturbed, he would often sneak out of the hidden exit, concealed as a bookcase, and make his way to antique sales and auction houses around the city, eager to expand his already extensive collection of equestrian objets and travelling cases.

Now worth tens of millions of euros, his obsession forms a magnificent private museum above the flagship Hrmes store, a place only the most privileged are permitted to visit and pay homage to the man who helped build a brand that is still family-owned today.

Jean-Paul Gaultier, who will step down this year as artistic director, is a regular. He even borrowed Hrmes's wife's riding jacket and skirt for Madonna, to be worn on a photo shoot for W magazine, but in the end it returned unworn (probably because the tiny waist was too tiny even for Madge).

The label's other designers, too, find inspiration in the hundreds of items taking up every spare inch of floor and wall space in the former office: hunting dog collars with silver, pyramid-shaped studs inspired the iconic collier de chien belt, made famous when it was worn by Ingrid Bergman in the 1960s; a skeleton clock set within an ornate stirrup has been recreated for Hrmes's own collections; and a ladies' parasol made entirely of pheasant feathers has been worked into a silk scarf print called l'ombrelle magique for autumn/winter 2010.

A favourite is an elaborate horse and carriage model - not unlike the Hrmes logo still used today. Made by nuns using thousands of rolled-up pieces of paper, when one fell off, it was unrolled to read the distinctly unmeditative message: "I'm bored."

Large parts of the collection stay in storage as there is not enough room to display it all. However, at least three of the artworks are winging their way to Glasgow this week, to take pride of place in Scotland's only Hrmes store. Part of House of Fraser's massive refurbishment, the concession will have a new, front-of-house position on Buchanan Street, a much larger space and even more stock.

Which means we could all be a step closer to buying a classic silk square (the Queen is a big fan), a Cape Cod double-wrapped watch or that coveted Birkin, as seen on the arms of everyone from Victoria Beckham (whose 100-strong collection is said to be worth 1.5 million) and Lady Gaga (who prefers to customise hers — she covered a black version with silver studs and a white one with marker pen doodles recently).

In the store beneath Emile-Maurice's museum-cum-office, meanwhile, a purple crocodile Birkin sits proudly in a cabinet, its hardware picked out in 14 carats of exquisite pav diamonds. The cost? A mere 140,000, making it possibly the world's most expensive handbag. Financial meltdown, it seems, is a relative concept, and at Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honor it's something that happens to other people.

The Hrmes story begins in 1837, with a successful saddlery workshop owned and run by one Thierry Hrmes. But as the motor car threatens to take the place of the horse, the company is forced to diversify to survive. And it is the visionary Emile-Maurice, grandson of the founder, who brings it right into the 20th century with a simple black handbag, designed in 1922 for his wife, to be carried in her Bugatti. The original is still in excellent shape, displayed in her husband's former office.

During the First World War, Emile-Maurice travels to the US, where he discovers the zip, almost unknown in Europe at the time. He obtains exclusive rights to use "the American fastener" in France and develops its use in both clothing and leather goods. A father of four girls, in time each of his sons-in-law joins the business and the portfolio is developed. Silk, until 1937, has been mainly used for jockeys' outfits, but is now made into the first printed scarves. Then comes a range of ties in 1949 and the first perfume in 1951.

Now with the sixth generation of the family in charge, Hrmes shows no sign of being reined in, and the Paris store peddles everything from leather goods and scarves to ready-to-wear fashion, footwear, porcelain, fine jewellery, beach towels, card games and furniture. Saddles are still made on the top floor. And while it is all undoubtedly expensive — you won't pick up much below the three- figure euro mark — they feature a level of craftsmanship almost unmatched elsewhere in the industry.

Last month, Louis Vuitton was forced to withdraw an advert the ASA claimed was misleading as it implied its bags were made entirely by hand when, in fact, they are not. Hrmes, in contrast, prides itself on the fact that each bag is made by a single craftsman, from handle to hardware.

The company trains leather workers from the age of 18 and after four years on small leather goods, moving to bigger pieces, they might be ready to tackle a Kelly — originally named the petit sac a courroie pour dame but renamed when it was popularised by Princess Grace — or a Constance — a favourite of Jackie Kennedy and toted more recently by the style-savvy Olsen twins and Diane Kruger.

In an ultra-modern building on the outskirts of Paris, they use treasured tools moulded by their own hands, hammering tiny rivets into the hardware, carefully 'beading' the points to smooth the nail tips, and waxing and endlessly polishing the edges to protect the leather.

Sitting down, with the leather in a wooden clamp between their knees, they intricately saddle-stitch each piece with a single length of strong linen thread and two needles, it's an elaborate dance, the needles gliding in, meeting in the middle, sweeping out again. Each stitch must run from left to right, be exactly the same size and pulled to equal tightness. By this alone, it is possible to separate the genuine article from a fake.

As the bag takes shape, it becomes clear it is actually inside-out — the leather lining, pockets and perfect stitches clearly visible — and will not be turned the right way until completed and signed by the craftsman who lovingly created it. When the time does come to turn the bag, if the leather cracks or is scratched, more than a week's work will have been for nothing and the bag will be rejected. It's a crucial stage in production, carried out inch by careful inch, starting in the corners and gently rolling the leather until it eventually gives way and reveals the finished article.

It is an almost identical way of working as in Emile's day, when the zip was a revolution and even the invention of the handbag rocked the world. And when a mischievous company boss could sneak out of the office through a fake bookcase and indulge his passion for horseplay.

Hrmes, House of Fraser, Buchanan Street, Glasgow, opens this week(0141-248 9775, www.Hrmes.com)

This article was first published in Scotland on Sunday, 22 August, 2010

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