{"id":18778,"date":"2026-07-25T13:26:40","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T13:26:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/loveluxury.com\/topics\/?p=18778"},"modified":"2026-06-30T13:53:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T13:53:16","slug":"hermes-saddle-stitch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/loveluxury.com\/topics\/hermes-saddle-stitch\/","title":{"rendered":"The Herm\u00e8s Saddle Stitch and Why Machines Still Can&#8217;t Fake a 200-Year-Old Sewing Technique"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 1837, when Thierry Herm\u00e8s opened up his saddlery workshop, a saddle seam failure meant life or death.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Equipment that broke all of a sudden, mid-gallop, could quite literally mean disaster. A rider on the ground. A spooked horse. What could go wrong? Apparently, quite a lot.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Herm\u00e8s saddle stitch meant survival.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Two centuries later, the same hand-sewing method spells luxury today. Here\u2019s everything you need to know about the iconic technique.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"512\" src=\"https:\/\/loveluxury.com\/topics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/06\/Untitled-design-83-1024x512.png\" alt=\"Herm\u00e8s Saddle Stitch\" class=\"wp-image-18779\" srcset=\"https:\/\/loveluxury.com\/topics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/06\/Untitled-design-83-1024x512.png 1024w, https:\/\/loveluxury.com\/topics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/06\/Untitled-design-83-300x150.png 300w, https:\/\/loveluxury.com\/topics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/06\/Untitled-design-83-768x384.png 768w, https:\/\/loveluxury.com\/topics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/06\/Untitled-design-83-600x300.png 600w, https:\/\/loveluxury.com\/topics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/06\/Untitled-design-83.png 1080w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What is the Herm\u00e8s Saddle Stitch?&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The saddle stitch Herm\u00e8s is the technique that refuses to die, and it\u2019s deceptively simple. Two needles, one thread, both passing through the same hole from opposite sides. That\u2019s pretty much it, but it\u2019s the technique that\u2019s been stumping industrial engineers for decades.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now, unlike machine stitching, which uses a single thread that\u2019s locked by a bobbin, the Herm\u00e8s double saddle stitch creates interlocking stitches that are independent. If one thread snaps, the rest holds firm, so no unravelling or zipper effect down your seam.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If machine stitching breaks down at any point, the whole thing can unravel and fall apart. If, however, a saddle stitch breaks down, you\u2019d never notice. As important as the technique is, the thread itself is just as important. Herm\u00e8s uses beeswax-coated linen, typically 0.6mm to 1.2mm thick. The beeswax strengthens the thread, prevents fraying, glides smoothly through the leather, and, most importantly, locks the stitch in a single place once pulled tight.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Process Behind Herm\u00e8s Saddle Stitch<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Every Herm\u00e8s saddle stitch begins with an awl piercing angled holes through the leather. These holes sit at an 18-degree slant, which is the signature Herm\u00e8s angle you can spot pretty easily if you know what to look for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The awl is pushed through, then the first needle follows, and so does the second needle from the same hole, but this time from the opposite side. When the needles cross paths inside the leather, they\u2019re pulled tightly and then moved to the next hole. This exact technique is repeated anywhere between 680 and several thousand times for larger pieces.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This sounds simple, but when leather thickness begins to vary and corners turn, the very act of maintaining concentration as the act is repeated is powerful in itself. The Herm\u00e8s saddle stitch sits slightly raised on the leather, and it\u2019s one of the simplest, yet most powerful giveaways of an authentic Herm\u00e8s handbag.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-7387b849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:50%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video\"><video height=\"1920\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1080 \/ 1920;\" width=\"1080\" controls src=\"https:\/\/loveluxury.com\/topics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/07\/how-to-tell-a-birkin-is-real-from-the-stitch_-\ud83d\udc40\ud83d\udc5c.mp4\"><\/video><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:50%\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Training Takes Years Before You Can Touch a Real Bag<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Training someone to master the Herm\u00e8s saddle stitch takes about two to four years. Let that sink in!&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Leatherworkers typically arrive at Herm\u00e8s, spending their initial weeks learning about the tools and then moving on to practising the saddle stitch Herm\u00e8s technique. It can take years for leatherworkers\u2019 work to meet Herm\u00e8s standards for visible stitching. At Herm\u00e8s&#8217;s internal training school, L&#8217;\u00c9cole Herm\u00e8s des savoir-faire, around 200 apprentices train annually, and it can take up to a year to produce saleable work.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to the Herm\u00e8s Executive Chairman, Axel Dumas, the company uses Herm\u00e8s saddle stitching because&nbsp; no machine can yet replicate the quality of the human hand. Contrary to popular romantic notions, Dumas said, \u201cWe are not a museum of craftsmanship,\u201d which suggests that if better technology were to come around, they\u2019d be willing to adopt it.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Even Herm\u00e8s Doesn&#8217;t Hand-Stitch Everything<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you weren\u2019t already aware, even a Birkin or Kelly only gets about 10-15% Herm\u00e8s double saddle stitch. The rest is carried out with high-quality machine stitching, resulting in precision that means most people wouldn\u2019t even be able to tell the difference.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You\u2019ll notice the Hermes saddle stitch in certain places of the bag that require the most strength, such as the handles, main seams and stress points \u2013 basically everywhere those stitches will be visible and touched.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A single Hermes handbag takes about 40+ hours to make, from the first cut right to the last polish. With that sort of time going into a single piece, no wonder Herm\u00e8s\u2019 production is limited!&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How Thierry Herm\u00e8s Went From Saddles to Handbags<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When Thierry Herm\u00e8s first founded his company, he was most definitely NOT making handbags. In fact, he was making quite the opposite \u2014 saddles and harnesses for European carriage horses! His saddle stitch technique won first-class medals at the Exposition Universelle in 1867.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But when automobiles replaced horse-drawn carriages, Herm\u00e8s pivoted from saddles to handbags. They applied the same saddle-making expertise to the luggage market. That\u2019s when the Haut \u00e0 Courroies bag was launched, a handbag originally designed for horsemen to carry their saddles and boots.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Then the 1930s rolled around, and Robert Dumas reimagined it as the Sac \u00e0 D\u00e9p\u00eaches. Two decades later, Grace Kelly made it famous and thus the Kelly was born.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 1981, when Jane Birkin complained about the functionality of a handbag to Jean-Louis Dumas on a flight, he sketched the Birkin on an aeroplane sick bag. While both bags were essentially different, they had the same foundation: Herm\u00e8s saddle stitching techniques perfected on actual horse saddles in the 1800s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That\u2019s not to say Herm\u00e8s doesn\u2019t still make saddles. They do, incidentally. Around 400-500 annually, handcrafted in workshops above the flagship boutique at 24 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honor\u00e9. Yes, it\u2019s the same building they&#8217;ve occupied since 1880.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since 1909, every Herm\u00e8s saddle has been registered in a ledger book: number, specifications, measurements, year manufactured, saddle-maker&#8217;s name, customer&#8217;s name. The oldest surviving book dates to 1909, though earlier records existed but were lost. That means, if you\u2019ve inherited a saddle or bought one second-hand, you could contact Herm\u00e8s and find out the saddle\u2019s history, who made it and when. How cool!&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How Do You Spot the Real Thing?&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When you know what to look for, getting scammed gets a whole lot harder. But that requires you to understand Herm\u00e8s saddle stitching.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here are a couple of dead giveaways that you need to take a closer look at:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The angle of the stitch matters tremendously! Herm\u00e8s stitches slope at that precise 18-degree slant, consistently, across the entire seam. Most fakes either get the angle completely wrong or are inconsistent<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Herm\u00e8s stitches slant forward, and not backward. Small detail, but a massive tell!&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Hand stitches slope in the same direction on both sides of the leather. Machine stitches slope in opposite directions, front to back<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The spacing shows tiny irregularities; there\u2019s a natural variation from human hands adjusting tension stitch by stitch<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The thread itself is waxed linen with a subtle sheen. It\u2019s also integrated so tightly with the leather that it looks almost as if it&#8217;s grown rather than sewn<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The raised texture is also another dead giveaway. If you run your finger along an authentic Herm\u00e8s saddle stitch seam, you\u2019ll feel the dimensional structure. Machine stitching, on the other hand, tends to sit flatter&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Of course, none of this replaces a professional authentication, but it doesn\u2019t hurt to know the difference between impeccable hand work and sloppy machine fakes!&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Technique as a Legacy&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If there\u2019s one thing for sure, Herm\u00e8s isn\u2019t interested in mass production.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They could increase production, after all they\u2019ve got the capital and the demand. But they won\u2019t, because scaling Herm\u00e8s saddle stitching isn\u2019t exactly as easy as it sounds.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Their philosophy also plays out, since Herm\u00e8s bags hold their value much better than any other luxury item. The Herm\u00e8s saddle stitch isn&#8217;t some quaint holdover from simpler times. It\u2019s a workman\u2019s technique that dates back all the way to the 1830s.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Two needles, one thread, pre-punched holes, beeswax-coated linen, an 18-degree angle and execution that\u2019s not replaceable by machines. That\u2019s exactly why the Birkin takes anywhere between 18 and 24 hours to make, that\u2019s why artisans train for years before they\u2019re allowed to touch a bag, and that\u2019s why the world swoons over the luxury house.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The saddle stitch Herm\u00e8s is craftsmanship that refuses to be replaced.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In 1837, when Thierry Herm\u00e8s opened up his saddlery workshop, a saddle seam failure meant life or death.&nbsp; Equipment that broke all of a sudden, mid-gallop, could quite literally mean disaster. A rider on the ground. A spooked horse. What could go wrong? Apparently, quite a lot.&nbsp; The Herm\u00e8s saddle stitch meant survival.&nbsp; Two centuries [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":18780,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-handbags","category-hermes"],"featured_media_global":{"id":151740,"title":{"rendered":"Untitled design (83)"},"description":{"rendered":""},"caption":{"rendered":""},"alt_text":"","media_type":"image","mime_type":"image\/png","media_details":{"width":1080,"height":540,"file":"2026\/06\/Untitled-design-83.png","filesize":745533,"sizes":{"medium":{"file":"Untitled-design-83-300x150.png","width":300,"height":150,"mime-type":"image\/png","filesize":70139},"large":{"file":"Untitled-design-83-1024x512.png","width":1024,"height":512,"mime-type":"image\/png","filesize":597225},"thumbnail":{"file":"Untitled-design-83-150x150.png","width":150,"height":150,"mime-type":"image\/png","filesize":36469},"medium_large":{"file":"Untitled-design-83-768x384.png","width":768,"height":384,"mime-type":"image\/png","filesize":364596},"yarpp-thumbnail":{"file":"Untitled-design-83-120x120.png","width":120,"height":120,"mime-type":"image\/png","filesize":24732},"woocommerce_thumbnail":{"file":"Untitled-design-83-300x300.png","width":300,"height":300,"mime-type":"image\/png","filesize":120778,"uncropped":false},"woocommerce_single":{"file":"Untitled-design-83-600x300.png","width":600,"height":300,"mime-type":"image\/png","filesize":236078},"woocommerce_gallery_thumbnail":{"file":"Untitled-design-83-100x100.png","width":100,"height":100,"mime-type":"image\/png","filesize":18059}},"image_meta":{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0","keywords":[]}},"source_url":"https:\/\/loveluxury.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Untitled-design-83.png"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/loveluxury.com\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/loveluxury.com\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/loveluxury.com\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loveluxury.com\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loveluxury.com\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18778"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/loveluxury.com\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18778\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18788,"href":"https:\/\/loveluxury.com\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18778\/revisions\/18788"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loveluxury.com\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/loveluxury.com\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loveluxury.com\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loveluxury.com\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}