Workshop: Damien the leather Compagnion

My “Tour” with the Compagnons du Devoir was extremely important for the young man I was. Despite its name “Tour de France”, I undertook most of my training abroad where I was lucky enough to meet wonderful professionals who greatly inspired me. I am still in touch with them today. I was 20 when I joined the Companons, which is very late. Usually, you join when you are 14. So I was more mature, I guess and more determined in learning to become as skilled as possible.

Why do I like so much what I do? I think the most important thing is the smile of appreciation on my cliens’ face when they see what I have done. Inspiration can take many shapes. But I am most inspired by simple things. I rely on my wild imagination to give a twist to my creativity. For example, I can come up with a twisted swirl of leather, after looking at an ivy on a tree.

My Masterwork was a travelling writing case. It was tan (camel colour), hand stitched with a white 12 strings threads, with crushed raspberries coloured Alcantra panels. On the outside, there were some yoks at the corners, stitched in white thread again. It looked like an old luxurious case, similarly to the ones Hermès did.

The infamous Charlie Davidson approached me with an incredible project, he designed a unique seat and was looking for someone who could manufacture it. It is truly an impressive piece, it is a long seat shaped in a black leather corset on the outside and pink in the inside. The foot are in the shape of stilettos…  I was very happy to be able to give “life” to this beautiful seat.

OBJECT OF DESIRE [Design Charlie Davidson].

I usually start with sketches, which I validate with the Client. This preliminary phase can stretch a bit depending on the Client. I only start a project once my Client is fully content. I also validate the colours, the type of leather in this phase. Then, I will start what I call “the development”, which starts with a prototype. The prototype enables us to adjust the concept before I start working with the real material. It often have “carte blanche” and I skip the preliminary phase to start straight away on my vision…

1. First, we sketch what we would like to be gilded. It is called a “stamp”
2. We use this stamp on a hot press (around 120°c)
3. We take the leather piece and position it under the press.
4. Then, we press firmly for a couple of second on the leather, with a gold leaf in between
5. Voilà!

When I look at a beautiful piece of leather, all I see is the know-how it required. You can feel the passion, the time spent over it. You also understand the time and expertise it required… The French know-how in leather craftsmanship is an expression of a certain everyday sophistication.  The training with the Companions is quite extensive as it lasts 7 years. In France, we are very lucky to have such a craftsmanship inheritance. Of course, trends are mutating, but the level of requirements is transferred and it keeps diffusing in our modern days.

One of the most remarkable leather gem I have seen: a trapeze travelling back from 1900 in one piece of crocodile leather. It was a very long bag (90cm) with a doctor lock, in camel colour. This was incredible… and it was forgotten on a shelf in the Louis Vuitton mending workshop. When I saw it, I could not believe my eyes…