Hermès Shoe Joiner (Upper Preparation & Edging)
- Location
- Busto GarolfoLombardyItaly
- Employment
- Full-Time
- Seniority
- Senior
- Industry
- Fashion, Apparel & Leather Goods
- Posted
- May 11, 2026
About Hermès
Hermès is a family-owned French maison renowned for exceptional savoir-faire across a wide range of luxury métiers. The Hermès Group fosters artisanal excellence and autonomy, sustaining a global network of ateliers and industrial partners that produce high-end leather goods, including footwear. Atelier HCI (Hermès Chaussures Italie) operates within this network, developing prototypes, coordinating Italian manufacturers and ensuring product quality for the house’s shoe collections.
Hermès — Busto Garolfo, Italy: Shoe Joiner (Upper Preparation & Edging). Artisan role in Atelier HCI; 6+ years required.
Role & Responsibilities
- Prepare and assemble shoe uppers, performing precise operations across all stages of upper preparation.
- Execute edge finishing (orlatura) and related stitching with exacting attention to Hermès quality standards.
- Operate and maintain a variety of industrial sewing and stitching machines appropriate to luxury footwear production.
- Perform leather splitting (spaccatura) and skiving (scarnitura) to specified tolerances and shapes.
- Diagnose and resolve technical issues on machines and during production processes to minimise downtime.
- Collaborate proactively with atelier colleagues and production partners to meet delivery, quality and specification requirements.
- Inspect components and finished assemblies, document defects and apply corrective actions to ensure final-product conformity.
Qualifications
- Minimum 6 years’ experience in footwear production, ideally within luxury or artisanal shoemaking environments.
- Proven manual dexterity and refined hand-finishing skills across upper preparation and edgework.
- Demonstrable experience with leather splitting and skiving techniques.
- Ability to operate multiple models of industrial sewing and stitching machines and carry out basic maintenance.
- Strong problem-solving aptitude for technical production issues and process deviations.
- Excellent teamwork, communication skills, flexibility and a rigorous attention to quality and detail.
Skills
Experience
Minimum 6 years of hands-on experience in luxury footwear manufacturing or equivalent artisanal production in shoe ateliers or industrial partners.
Education
Vocational diploma or apprenticeship in shoemaking, leatherworking or related craft; equivalent professional training and demonstrable artisanal experience accepted.
Workplace
This position is based in Busto Garolfo, Lombardy, Italy, within easy reach of Milan.
Culture
Hermès places the highest value on meticulous craftsmanship, autonomy and long-term development of artisanal skills. The Maison cultivates a collaborative atelier culture where respect for materials, attention to detail and continuous improvement underpin daily work. Diversity and inclusion are emphasised as drivers of creativity within the broader Hermès community.
About Cerulean
Cerulean is the definitive career portal for the global luxury industry. We match exceptional professionals with exclusive opportunities at the world's most prestigious brands. From haute couture and fine watchmaking to prestige beauty, hospitality, and boutique retail, Cerulean centralises luxury employment to help you find the career for which you were destined.
Frequently Asked Questions
The luxury industry is characterised by a diverse and nuanced nomenclature. Esteemed houses frequently employ proprietary terminology, and even within a single organisation like Hermès, titles may vary across global markets to reflect local conventions. To ensure absolute clarity, Cerulean assigns a standardised, industry-coherent canonical title to every listing. However, it is worth noting that this role is functionally synonymous with «Upper Preparation Artisan», «Shoe Upper Technician», «Leather Skiving & Edgeworker», «Closing and Stitching Specialist», and other variations. Our sophisticated search architecture anticipates these variations, ensuring that inquiries using related terms will seamlessly yield the exact roles you desire.