We’re in Pontassieve! For our third installment we toured Il Bisonte’s creative and logistics center. In the Pre-industrialization department we saw artisans with stopwatches in hand. They were calculating how long it takes to produce a bag, a bag bearing a particular name. A name that they too go by. The artisan’s name.
In Pontassieve, Il Bisonte’s creative and logistics center opened its doors to the Journal. Pronouncing the name of the third department we visited feels somewhat like grinding gears in your mouth. «Pre-industrialization Department.» But then that sound is deceiving.
THE HANDS BEHIND THE BAGS
In fact, this is where we clasped those first hands: The Hands Behind the Bags. Hands that know how to mediate between (the names of) designers, prototypes, tanning styles, and production needs. Hands, however, that are not automatic. And especially not anonymous.
In practice: this department is the link between Pontassieve and the workshops in Il Bisonte’s short supply chain. This is where prototype feasibility is checked. From here we set off to teach the respective artisans how to produce the pieces that are assigned to them. Stopwatch in hand!
THE NAMES BEHIND THE HANDS
But nothing could be further from the imagery in Modern Times. When Charlie Chaplin struggled against the cogs of industry. «Craftsmanship requires a long time.» Craftsmanship, we would add, means knowing the names behind those hands you’ve clasped.
