“Les Deux Mains du Luxe” 2025: When Craftsmanship Becomes a Monument. Story by Eleonora de Gray, Editor-in-Chief of RUNWAY MAGAZINE. Photo Courtesy: Comité Colbert / LDMDL / E. Demarly / David Atlan.

Under the soaring glass roof of the newly restored Grand Palais, luxury made a powerful, hands-on statement. For the first time in history, thirty-two of France’s most iconic maisons — from Hermès and Dior to Baccarat and Van Cleef & Arpels — united not to unveil new collections, but to reveal the rare and precious gestures behind them. Welcome to “Les Deux Mains du Luxe” 2025, an immersive, monumental exhibition dedicated to the artisans whose hands shape the French dream.

For four days, from October 2 to 5, the GrandPalaisRmn became a living, breathing tribute to savoir-faire. Visitors didn’t just observe — they experienced. Gilding, broderie, porcelain modeling, leather stitching, crystal engraving, perfume making… all became tangible, teachable acts. In seven themed zones — from Haute Couture and Leather to Gastronomy and Watchmaking — attendees were invited to roll up their sleeves and try their hand at the very techniques usually reserved for the ateliers of Rue Cambon, Avenue Montaigne, or Place Vendôme.

A Forest of Possibilities

The scenography, conceived by ENSAAMA design students, was more than decorative. Entitled “Arborescence, or the Forest of Possibilities”, the installation transformed the exhibition space into an enchanted forest — each tree a metaphor for a path untaken, each branch an invitation to explore a craft. Crafted in honeycomb cardboard and drop paper, the environment felt as ephemeral and intricate as the métiers it celebrated.

It wasn’t simply a feast for the eyes. It was an act of transmission. “Doing is thinking,” states Comité Colbert, the organizer of this initiative — a collective of nearly 100 French luxury houses and cultural institutions, under direction of Bénédicte Epinay. And this edition was nothing short of a manifesto. 

With 25% of artisan professionals aged 55 or over, and only 40% of new artisans coming from youth rather than career-change, the stakes are clear: the future of luxury craftsmanship depends on its ability to attract — and inspire — a new generation.

Beyond Observation: Into the Atelier

Luxury, after all, has always been a form of a memory — of lineage, of transmission. And while marketing often steals the spotlight, this exhibition shifted focus back to the silent stars: the hands.

From the legendary shoemakers to the watchmakers and the crystal artists, every discipline was represented — not as a product, but as process. It was a poetic reversal of the usual fashion week choreography. No runway. No front row. Just the raw, astonishing intimacy of creation.

A Matter of Urgency — and of Choice

As French vocational education faces a reckoning, with many young people choosing professions by default rather than desire, events like Les Deux Mains du Luxe take on political weight. They are cultural interventions — pleas for dignity, continuity, and ambition. They are attempts to reframe craftsmanship not as fallback, but as future.

The presence of France’s most elite maisons alongside over 20 major design schools, including École Boulle, ENSAAMA, the Haute École de Joaillerie, and the Institut Français de la Mode, gave weight to this vision. Every stitch, every shard of glass, every gold leaf placed on paper was a gesture of invitation: to learn, to follow, to carry on.

When Luxury Teaches

It’s easy to forget that the great houses of Paris were once workshops. That artisans like Lesage, Goyard, and Pouenat began as tradesmen. But this exhibition reminded us that luxury is not about price. It is about permanence. And permanence is born from hands that know.

Les Deux Mains du Luxe was turning the heart of Paris into a promenade of savoir-faire. Meanwhile, talks and masterclasses at the Grand Palais tackled the deeper questions: how to preserve crafts, attract young talent, and build meaningful careers around material intelligence.

Because in the end, fashion week will pass. But the hand — and what it can do — remains.