This week, 60 Minutes correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi stepped behind the silk curtain of Hermès, the iconic French fashion house. 

Hermès was founded in 1837 by its namesake, Thierry Hermes, a master craftsman who made the highest quality harnesses, bridles, and saddles to outfit the horse carriages of well-heeled Europeans.

Today, you can still buy a handmade bespoke saddle, along with ready-to-wear fashion, luggage, fragrances, and of course, the brand’s beloved scarves and handbags.

60 Minutes producer Michael Karzis explained that Hermès continues to make one of its most iconic products by hand, despite the unrelenting demand. 

“One handbag is made by one artisan, start to finish, and it can take 20 to 30 hours to make,” Karzis told 60 Minutes Overtime. 

“It’s anathema to the way big businesses run… against the pressure of speed, and compromising on quality, to meet that demand.”

Perfection isn’t easy and mistakes do happen. If there’s a wayward stitch or an off-color, the item can’t be retailed in a boutique. And when a line of scarves reaches its end at Hermès, they’re pulled off the shelves. 

“We wanted to know what happened to all of that material,” story producer Karzis said.

In 2010, Hermès started Petit h, a one-of-a-kind workshop where creatives and artisans take piles of material and rejected items and create new products with them.

Alfonsi and Karzis visited the Petit h workshop in a Parisian suburb to interview its

director, Camille Parenty, and artistic director, Godefroy de Virieu.

On display, a startling and colorful array of products: a salt and pepper shaker inspired by a simple button, a music box turned with the hook of an overcoat, and an electric guitar built around an old saddle frame. 

Parenty explained that artists are invited by de Vireiu to spend time surrounded by the materials, and then create a design for a new product. 

“Creation in reverse,” she explained.

In a large space aptly called the Alibaba Room, de Virieu pulled a silk scarf from the pile to show Alfonsi an almost imperceptible defect and outlined it with his finger.

“That part won’t be used anymore so we’re going to cut it…but we are going to keep that. And that’s the starting point of a new thing,” he told Alfonsi. 

On the first floor of the workshop, artisans were taking the creatives’ designs and making them a reality. 

“You see these artisans and they’re all chipping away, trying to figure out… the frame of a mirror out of tiny bits of broken porcelain,” Karzis said. 

The last stop on the tour was the “nursery,” where finished products are stored before they’re shipped off to Hermès stores and customers. 

De Virieu showed Alfonsi a stool decorated with brightly colored mushrooms, an indoor swing inspired by stirrups, and a shopping cart topped with a cut-in-half handbag, none other than Hermès’ highly sought-after Birkin.

De Virieu excitedly showed them one last item: a fully functional indoor hammock made from Hermès silk scarves. 

“That’s really the story of Petit h,” de Vireiu said. 

“[Look] at a piece of material and find a new way to use it… it’s perfect.”

The video above was produced by Will Croxton. It was edited by Sarah Shafer Prediger and Scott Rosann.