Manufacto 2025-2026

2025
2026
Manufacto Session © Benoît Teillet
Manufacto Session © Benoît Teillet
This school year, over 2,300 pupils will discover craft techniques through Manufacto, The Skills Factory. Now entering its tenth year, this educational programme dedicated to raising awareness of artisanal skills amongst young people continues to expand across France thanks to a partnership between the Foundation and 19 boards of education.

Everything began in 2016, when the Fondation d’entreprise Hermès launched the Manufacto programme for a pilot year in partnership with the Paris board of education and in collaboration with the Compagnons du Devoir et du Tour de France. Under the guidance of a seasoned expert, 150 pupils were able to gain a practical understanding of artisanal gestures by fashioning a contemporary object out of wood or leather, step by step and from start to finish.

Ten school years later, and more than 2,300 primary and secondary school pupils are now learning the skills of leatherworking and carpentry, as well as upholstery and plasterwork. Three further boards of education (Clermont-Ferrand, Nancy-Metz and Poitiers) are joining the programme this year, bringing the number of partner boards of education to 19 and the number of participating schools to 102.

Across all age groups, the Manufacto programme unfolds according to the same principle: over the course of 12 sessions, each pupil makes one of 13 objects designed specifically for the programme. They are accompanied by a trio of professionals: a craftsperson, an assistant and their usual schoolteacher. An object designed according to demanding and carefully thought-out specifications has been imagined for each age group. In this way, Manufacto offers a veritable immersion in the world of artisanal skills: pupils can discover the vocabulary, tools, techniques and, of course, the materials which it entails. As they progress through the different stages, each of them can experience first-hand the rigour, dexterity and mutual support that are part and parcel of craft, along with the pleasure of making things with one’s own hands.

While Manufacto may help pupils to find an unexpected vocation, the programme aims above all to promote craft trades with which pupils are often unfamiliar. Over the course of the sessions, the gestures passed on spread among the pupils and improve the classroom atmosphere, while helping teachers engage them with fundamental curricular skills in a different way, in a rich and formative collective experience for all involved.

Disciplines
Craftsmanship
Design
France
For its tenth school year, Manufacto has expanded to 19 partner boards of education.
More than 2,300 primary and secondary school pupils are now learning the skills of leatherworking and carpentry, as well as upholstery and plasterwork.
Over the course of twelve sessions, students fashion a contemporary object using fine materials.

Information

  • The 19 partner boards of education and coordinating structures for the 2025-2026 school year are as follows:

     

    • Amiens board of education
      With the Campus des métiers et des qualifications d'excellence Image et Design des Hauts-de-France
    • Besançon board of education
      Directly oversees the local coordination of the programme, together with the Pôle Bourgogne-Franche Comté des maroquineries Hermès
    • Bordeaux board of education
      With the MADD - Musée des Arts décoratifs et du Design Bordeaux, the PEMA - Pôle Expérimental Métiers d'Art Nontron Périgord-Limousin, and La Réciproque.
    • Clermont-Ferrand board of education
      With the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Campus des Métiers et des Qualifications
    • Créteil board of education
      With the Campus des métiers et des qualifications d'excellence Mode, Métiers d'Art & Design – Manufacture des Gobelins
    • La Réunion board of education
      With the MADOI - Musée des arts décoratifs de l'océan Indien
    • Lille board of education
      With the Campus des métiers et des qualifications d'excellence Image et Design des Hauts-de-France
    • Lyon board of education
      With the Campus des métiers et des qualifications d'excellence Design, matériaux et innovation Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and the Maroquinerie Hermès de Pierre-Bénite
    • Montpellier board of education
      With the Campus des métiers et des qualifications d'excellence Design et industries créatives Occitanie and the Toulouse board of education
    • Nancy-Metz board of education
      With La Cité du faire
    • Nice board of education
    • Normandy board of education
      With the Seine-Eure District Authority
    • Orléans-Tours board of education
      With the Campus des métiers et des qualifications d'excellence PatMAT (Patrimoine, Métiers d’art et Tourisme)
    • Paris board of education
      Directly oversees the local coordination of the programme
    • Poitiers board of education
      With the Pôle expérimental métiers d’art (PEMA) de Nontron et du Périgord-Limousin
    • Reims board of education
      With the Pôle ardennais des maroquineries Hermès
    • Rennes board of education
      With the Comme un établi cooperative
    • Toulouse board of education
      Directly oversees the local coordination of the programme, with the Campus des métiers et des qualifications d'excellence Design et industries créatives Occitanie
    • Versailles board of education
      With the Campus des métiers et des qualifications d'excellence Patrimoine et artisanat Versailles

See also