Jenny HandBagz WorkZhop - How Perfume is Made

I Hope U Remember Me when you smell the same scent on the Scarf...

That is left from the Perfume Cream on my hands when I was knitting it...

I am interested to understand the process involved in making Perfume on my 1st visit to Cairo, my dad took us to the Perfume factory. There was long time ago, even the Egyptian seemed never see Chinese Ladies, they kept looking at my sis and me...
Perfume is something many of us wear, and most of us know it involves flowers to use to create a scent.

A Rose in the Grasse Region of France

Most fragrances on the market have a lot of synthetic ingredients. 

So let’s begin with the ingredients. Almost every perfume needs flowers in it, it is very difficult to make a unique scent without a floral essence. Flowers are the most expensive essence as they need to be grown and they have a small yield. Flower essences are actually quite similar to wines in that the flowers will smell differently every year depending on the harvest, like a wine vintage.

Rose yield in Grasse, France

Rose and Jasmine are the indispensable perfumery ingredients, it is really hard to make a perfume without them. 

The Grasse region in France where the rose was grown and harvested. The largest rose fields in the area, 70,000 square metres with 50,000 rose bushes. The fields are owned by Chanel and are used for Chanel No. 5. and they bought the fields, which were originally planted by monks, to ensure that there would be no issues about having sufficient product to put into their perfumes.
Did you know that Chanel is one of the only luxury brands that does not license out their perfume? Almost all luxury brands have specialty perfume companies make and market their perfume (and there are only a handful of big ones in the world, so most designer fragrances come from the same place), whereas Chanel does it in house…Chanel has a habit of doing this sort of thing, they also own seven of the top craft ateliers in France, including A. Michel et Cie (a hat maker), Les Broderies Lesage (one of the most famous embroiderers in the world), Lemarie (who makes feathers and flowers), and Desrue (a company that makes luxury buttons), which ensures they will always have craftsman to make flowers, feathers, and other handmade accessories for their collections. It also protects these crafts from disappearing.

The Rose Harvest

The climate and soil will have a huge impact on the quality of the flower, and therefore affect its scent. Once the rose plant is grown, it needs to be picked at a certain time, often very early in the morning, but late enough that the flower has opened. The rose harvest takes place in May, usually over a span of 3 weeks. Flowers are picked by hand and extracted on site. The harvest is a very delicate process, each bag can only contain a certain number of flowers, so that they don’t crush one another and lose the oils.

Bags of freshly picked roses ready for extraction

The next step is to extract the oils, which must take place immediately after picking. They start by putting layers of petals on a metal layered drum (again, quantities need to be precise, not too much, not too few,) so you end up with layers of trays of flowers. The flowers are then immersed in a solvent for five and a half hours in 30 degrees, usually this solvent is hexane gas. Then the hexane is removed, and what is left over is a floral wax, which looks like a mushy wax that has the oils in it. The oils are essential oils and fatty oils. The fatty oils need to be removed, so the wax is washed with ethanol, and what is left is a material called absolute. This is the process for extraction of rose essence, but they same process is used for jasmine.

Freshly-picked flowers being placed onto the layered metal trays, ready for extraction

Distillation is also another way to get the scent from the flower, plant matter would be inside a big lambic in water and the vapour would rise up. You would then skim the oil off. Rose can be extracted or distilled. Rose water is what is left from the distillation process, as you lose some of the scent into the water. In absolute, which is made from the extraction process, you get all of the aromatic matter in the plant whereas in steam distillation, there is a lot left behind.

Flowers when they are being removed from the extraction machine

A huge amount of plant matter is needed to get a small amount of essential oil, that is why perfume is expensive.

• 1 kilo of roses = 500 flowers
• 400 kilos of rose flowers = 600g of absolute
• a 7.5-15ml bottle of french perfume (not eau de parfum or eau de toilette) would have 20-30% concentration of absolute, so about 1.8ml of absolute which is approx 2g

That equates to about 660 roses to get the scent into that small bottle of perfume.

A few definitions…

• Eau de Toilette contains about 6-10% essential oils in an alcohol and water base.
• Eau de Parfum contains about 11-15% essential oils in an alcohol and water base.
• Perfume (which the highest concentration of essential oils), contains about 20-40% essential oils in an alcohol and water base. (Note that some scents do not have water added.)

Floral essences are also very expensive because they are so labour intense and fragile, a drop of rose costs 1 dollar, and prices fluctuate all the time.
The natural one, it only uses real extracts of rose and jasmine, no synthetics. Sourcing very high quality materials, which are often hard to find and need to be compared. It can take years of training to recognize a good rose and how it should smell. Have to make connections with suppliers around the world to buy the best and purest essences, it just like cooking, perfume starts with quality ingredients.

Chanel's guide to obtaining essence, on the top, using extraction, and on the bottom, using distillation

Jenny HandBagz Workshop - Good Things Come In Boxes

The BEST looking shoe box in the world, from Azzedine Alaïa. And the contents aren't bad either.

Good thing comes in box, I hope my man is not coming with the box but his nice heart :-)

Jenny HandBagz WorkZhop - The Hermès Bag

We all know the Hermès bag is one of the most coveted luxury goods in the world, with the Birkin and Kelly bags leading the way as two of the most desirable handbags in existence. But they do not come cheap, prices start at around US$7,500 for a Kelly bag and can go well into the hundreds of thousands if you are using crocodile, diamonds, and other precious materials. But it is not just the materials we are paying for, or the brand name, the Hermès bag is expensive because of the laborious construction process involved in making each bag. 

The Hermès Kelly bag

First of all, the craftsman will train for several years before they are allowed to make a bag. Most of the Hermès craftsman come from a school in Paris called Ecole Grégoire-Ferrandi, who specialize in leather, particularly saddle making and “maroquinerie” which refers to handbags and similar items. Once you’ve completed the course there, you have 15 months of training at Hermès, where you make watch straps, handles, and do other exercises. After that you can start on bags, but craftsmen need five years experience making bags before they can “graduate” to crocodile. There are about 2,000 craftsman working for Hermès, and each craftsman usually only specializes in four bag shapes. Luggage is made in a separate workshop, and is usually made by men as luggage requires a lot more strength during its construction, particularly when it is turned out.

The Hermès Birkin bag

THE CUTTING
Each cutter will cut 5 or 6 bags a week, one at a time. They start by examining the skins and identifying which area of the skin will work for each part of the bag. The tools used for cutting are a paring knife or press knives, which are more precise, as they allow for the cutter to cut, prick, and make the marks for placing the clasps. The most popular models have cutting plates for their pieces, but they differ according to the skin being used, as different leathers have different elasticity.

Leathers ready to be cut

How much leather is used for a Kelly bag?
One calfskin
Two or three crocodile skins (as only the stomach is used, the rest is covered in bony scales)
One and a half ostrich skins, so that there are as many follicles visible as possible.
Four to five lizard skins (the heads and tails are not used.)

Crocodile skin being cut for a bag

The thread used for Hermès leather goods is mouline linen thread, which has excellent dimensional stability and will not be affected by different climates. The thread comes in one hundred different colours, and a Kelly bag uses about 20 metres of thread. Before assembly, the thread is coated in beeswax so that is it waterproof and smooth.

The thread used for Hermès leather goods is mouline linen thread, which has excellent dimensional stability and will not be affected by different climates. The thread comes in one hundred different colours, and a Kelly bag uses about 20 metres of thread. Before assembly, the thread is coated in beeswax so that is it waterproof and smooth.

Mouline linen thread in the Hermès atelier

THE TOOLS
The Hermès craftsman use the same tools that they did 150 years ago (I love that!) The most important element is the human hand, but there are three other tools that assist in the contruction of a bag. The grid resembles a comb with pointed teeth that imprint the leather so that the craftsman knows where to stitch, and to ensure the stitches are even. The awl is a thin, diamond-shapes pick that punctures the leather and makes way for the needles, the third tool, which are quite blunt and come in pairs.
Like a thimble to a seamstress, each craftsman has his own set of tools, which are extremely personal and mould and conform to the owner’s hands and movements. I love this image of the craftsman having a set of tools which essentially become an extension of his body at work.
THE ASSEMBLY
Let’s start with the saddle stitching. The saddle stitch is a very solid stitch now used on all of Hermès bags, belts, watch straps, and most other leather pieces. The technique involves crossing a thread over itself between two pieces of leather, and it is very strong because if one stitch breaks, the rest remain intact. While saddle-stitching, the leather is held in a large wooden clamp that the craftsman holds in between his legs. I tried the saddle stitch during my visit with the master craftsman at the Hermès store, and although I managed a few pretty good looking stitches, you can tell right away why it takes three years of training before a craftsman is allowed to make a bag. It is quite a challenge to make an row of perfectly even hand-done saddle stitches, let alone an entire bag.

Working on a bag with the leather secured in a clamp held by her legs

Other details on the bag include the manual bar tacking, which are always done by hand. There are a few parts of an Hermès bag that are machine sewn, which includes the inside pockets, the shoulder straps, and the zippers, and even these have hand-sewn manual bar tacks. The bar tack is used to finish the edge of a stitch. You can’t just leave the threads loose and you can’t cut them off at the end, as the stitch will unravel. Rather than tie a knot, at Hermès they hand-sew a bar tack which is then flattened with a hammer. The edges of the leather that are visible will be buffed with sandpaper, dyed, waxed, and polished several times to ensure they are soft, the correct colour in order to match the bag, and are safe from humidity.
Any creasing on the bag is outlined by hand with a hot tool that needs a very strong, stable hand. The linings are always in leather, usually a very soft lamb or goatskin, so that when the owner’s hand reaches into the bag, the inside feels soft and luxurious. Even the zipper teeth are polished to ensure they don’t have any rough edges and are soft to the touch.

Inside an Hermès bag-making atelier

A craftsman takes about 3 to 4 days to assemble a bag, and each bag is worked on by one person alone. Essentially, the bag ends up being a part of the person who created it. A Kelly bag (which takes four days) has about forty pieces that needs to be assembled, and they start by stitching the lining to the inside pockets, and the linings for the small straps and the gussets. The straps are then sewn onto the back of the bag, and then the base is stitched to the two sides. The next step is to create the rigid handle, and then the shanks or handle loops are attached to the bag. The bag is no longer flat when the craftsman assembles the body, front and back with gussets. The edges are then buffed and dyed, as explained above, and the jewelry is attached (the lock, the plates, and the rivets.)

Attaching the hardware

Once the bag is finished, it must be turned outside in, as most of the Hermès bags are worked on from the inside out. This is a very delicate process, which must be done without marking or rubbing the bag, and without damaging its shape. Once the bag is turned, it will be lightly hammered and steamed to ensure the perfect shape and removes any traces of handling.

A Kelly bag after it has been turned out

The final touch is to hot stamp the Hermès logo and the craftsman’s code, as each bag can be traced back to the person who made it. If you return a bag for repairs, they will always send it back to the person who originally made it, if they are still working. Then the bag is packaged in its dust bag, and placed into the orange box, tied with the brown Hermès logo bolduc ribbon, and is ready to be delivered!

Jenny HandBagz WorkZhop - US$130,000 Nail Polish

I like luxury but no feeling of Luxury coz I have my own style ;-)

I loathe ridiculously Expensive Items that have no Purpose aside from being Extravagant. A $30,000 watch? Expensive, but if it is Good Quality and the Materials are worth that, then go ahead. It is an investment and can be handed down. 

A $2,000 pair of ripped jeans: ridiculous. 

A $250 skin cream? If the ingredients are worth it.

An $130,000 nail polish. I am laughing (Or crying!!).

So what’s the Deal with this Ridiculous Beauty item? Well, it is from the brand Model’s Own and it is called Gold Rush. It looks like Gold Leaf when it is applied to the nails. The lid is made from Gold and Inlaid with 1,118 diamonds. And it costs US$130,000!!!

I think I could find some better things to buy. 

I prefer my Diamonds on Jewelry, not Bottles.

Jenny HandBagz WorkZhop - Lessons in Denim

Most of you are probably well-versed in the world of selvage and raw denim, but if you are anything like me, and are not particularly obsessed with denim, then this post might be of interest. 

Although I don’t actively seek out raw denim, or fancy brands, or selvage jeans but I am always interested in fashion processes.

First, let’s start with some fashion terminology. The selvage is the term for the finished edge of fabric. Imagine a roll of fabric, the two sides of the fabric that don’t fray or come apart are the selvage. So every woven fabric technically has a selvage, but selvage denim refers to denim that has a closed selvage.

Back in the 1800’s, denim used to be made on a loom called a shuttle loom. The shuttle was loaded with the weft yarns (the warp yarns are the dyed yarns in denim, and the weft are the un-dyed years that act as “filler” for the denim. That is why some jeans are lighter on the inside. ) and the weft yarns are thrown back and forth over the warp, and this is how the denim is woven. The selvage of the denim therefore is closed.

In the 50’s, companies like Levi’s decided they wanted a new system to make denim. The shuttle looms were slow, and they only made fabric 30 inches wide, so they switched to projectile looms, where the yarns are cut instead of being thrown back and forth. The selvage therefore has looser edges, but is 60 inches wide.

All the selvage denim brands have returned to denim produced on shuttle looms because it is better quality, and it is the traditional method of producing denim. Use an analogy of watches, to explain why someone should be willing to spend more on a pair of selvage denim jeans. New digital watches are probably more durable, and have more functions than a Swiss watch that uses perpetual motion. But why do we want the Swiss watch? Because there is value added to a product that requires more human effort and more skill to product. The selvage denim is more difficult to make, it is handmade, whereas the new stuff is mass produced. Selvage denim about heritage, and we all now how “cool” heritage is right now.

So, selvage denim jeans are cut so that the outside seam is along the selvage of the denim. It looks nicer when you roll up your cuffs, but it slightly limits the shapes you can create with denim, as you need to have a completely straight outside leg seam (the outseam.) That means that any tapering or flare needs to come from the inside seam.

Raw denim is essentially denim that hasn’t been washed or distressed. In theory, all denim is raw at the start, but a few years back, thanks to brands like Diesel, we started wanting our jeans worn out, distressed, and destroyed for us. For some reason, that is what many customers want. Raw denim has not been washed (for example, stonewashed or acid washed), distressed, or ripped, it is the fabric in its natural, original state. The idea is to wear and distress your own denim, so that it becomes a part of you, rather than pay a fancy denim brand to do that for you.

Jenny HandBagz WorkZhop - Who Owns What 1/3 - LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy)

Anyone who is extremely Well-Versed in the Fashion Industry, it may be old news for you. Otherwise I’d clarify a little about the Big conglomerates, particularly since there has been a lot in the Press recently about LVMH’s sneaky acquisition of 17% of Hermès stocks.
Let’s get started on some of the big names…
LVMH stands for Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy. 

They are the Largest Luxury goods conglomerate and in 2009 they made over 17 billion euros in sales. 

The largest shareholder is Groupe Arnault (Bernard Arnault’s family holding company) but here is where things get confusing…Christian Dior (owned by Groupe Arnault) and owns over 40% of LVMH. 

LVMH pretty much owns the Luxury World, and now they are trying to get their hands on Hermès, which the Hermès family is not very happy about.

LVMH owns: Louis Vuitton, Loewe, Céline, Givenchy, Marc Jacobs, Fendi, Donna Karan, Emilio Pucci, TAG Heuer,De Beers, Christian Dior perfumes, Benefit Cosmetics, Acqua di Parma, Guerlain, Make Up For Ever.

Plus they own Sephora, Le Bon Marché (My Fave Paris department store) and tons of Fancy Wine, Champagne (My Love), and Liquor Brands. They have also recently acquired stocks in Edun, the Eco fashion brand.

Jenny HandBagz WorkZhop - Donna Karan invented the Bodysuit

Donna Karan founded her Eponymous Brand in 1984, and she announced that the Collection would only Comprise of Clothing that she herself would wear. She became well-known for her “Seven Easy Pieces” (a Bodysuit, a Coat, a Jacket, Blouse, Skirt, Pants and a Fancy piece for Evening) which were the Staple of a Working Woman’s Wardrobe and could be mixed and matched to make many different outfits. Donna Karan’s bodysuit became an 80’s Staple, Lasting well into the 90’s. It then went out of Fashion, but brands like American Apparel have recently revived the piece, although without the Handy Snaps to facilitate….doing business.
Another Interesting Point about Donna Karan is that DKNY was the First Successful Diffusion line. Imagine a life without Diffusion lines? Most of us would hardly own any Designer Clothing…

A Donna Karan bodysuit, in cashmere with sequins

Jenny HandBagz WorkZhop - Ecole de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne

Random bits of Information about the Fashion Industry that you may or may not know…
Karl Lagerfeld and Yves Saint Laurent went to the same fashion school...
Yes, it is true, and other Alumni of that school include Issey Miyake, Tomas Maier (from Bottega Veneta) Alexis Mabillé...The school is called Ecole de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne (in Paris) and it is One of the Only schools that teaches the Traditional Haute Couture sewing Techniques, Incredible Sewing Techniques but I don’t sew anymore…

Ecole de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne

Jenny HandBagz WorkZhop - Bordelle

Bordelle is a British luxury lingerie brand whose sexy collections combine light fetish influences, luxury, and incredible construction. Unfortunately, the brand has not moved on much since it started a few years ago, their signature strap designs seem to dominate almost every collection. I’d like to see them develop more of the super classy pieces, that seem to double as shapewear, and are therefore practical.
Bordelle is selling in London mostly. Although I love the designs, I struggle to spend upwards of US$250 on a bra. I don't think I'll do crazy thing again to spend US$200 or US$250 for a bra, I am fine with my wardrobe, so far no complaints ;-)
I can tell, Lingerie with very Professional Technology itself apart from Garment, with Different Product Line. 

However, Lingerie is never as revered as Fashion, coz a Big Part of Fashion is about dressing for Others, and not Many People see your Lingerie, and therefore it doesn’t get bought that much. Most people buy underwear for replacement, which is quite boring.

Anyway, I shouldn’t snub the lingerie industry like this, it is fantastic and a great set of underwear not only makes you look good, but it also makes you feel great and holds everything in place. And Bordelle’s designs are fantastic, anyone that manages to put studs and spikes onto lingerie is in my good books.

Text > Cool Jenny

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Jenny HandBagz WorkZhop - Selfridges Shoe Windows

I guess this Shoe-Inspired Window Display has been put into London’s Selfridges‘ Department Store in order to celebrate the opening of their New Shoe Department, which apparently is the Largest One in the World.

Let’s admire these window displays featuring everyday appliances being transformed into designer shoes. The displays have been done by Lernert and Sander and here’s their take on the windows: “We wanted to turn stock items into startlingly smart footwear. A humorous take on fashion as an ideal escape from the daily grind.” 

I can’t tell you how much I miss the inspiring window displays while I go travelling,

Hong Kong is a bit concerned when it comes to creativity with visual merchandising.

Text > Cool Jenny

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Jenny HandBagz WorkZhop - Fashematics

After few posts of my Exploring Experience in Kuala Lumpur, back to Fashion a bit...

A Funny Fashion Website, Fashematics and I have seen in a while. I think the Concept was that Readers submitted Equations, and there was a Winner chosen Every Week. Anyway, all of these images make me Laugh....haha. 

Super Imagination on Inspiration, Great Sense of Humor...

Are you Ready?? Haha...

Alexander McQueen, Fall 2009 Ready to Wear

Anna Wintour

Givenchy, Fall 2010 Couture

Viktor & Rolf, Spring 2009 Ready to Wear

Christian Dior, Fall 2010 Couture

Viktor & Rolf, Spring 2009 Ready to Wear

Gaultier, Fall 2010 Couture

Jean Paul Gaultier, Fall 2010 Couture

Text > Cool Jenny

Photos > Web Search