IQALUIT - The European fashion house Hermes recently held a worldwide contest for their employees to submit a dream of any kind, travelling or otherwise.

Ten employees from France, Korea, Hong Kong and England were chosen, and their dream was to travel to the Canadian Arctic and learn about the Inuit way of life.

The group spent time in Iqaluit and Kimmirut, and in that time they learned to fish, travelled to an iceberg and made tea with ice fresh off the berg. One of the other things they did was visit the fur production course at the Nunavut Arctic College campus in Iqaluit to see how the Inuit use sealskin.

"We were very conscious of the European response to seal," said Kyra Fisher of the college.

"We explained right away that in Nunavut, seal is shot (not clubbed) and that every part of the seal is utilized."

The Hermes employees included a seamstress who hand sews the company's signature leather bags, a designer, a leather belt maker and those who work in other sectors of the fashion giant. They were interested in the cultural place of sealskin for the Inuit, and Fisher said the current class was a perfect example for a visitor.

"We have a really interesting class right now," she said, mentioning that the students range in age from early 20s to nearly 60.

She said some of the students are Inuit who attended residential schools, and are now learning the traditional methods of preparing sealskin that they couldn't learn from their parents.

"They are a very dedicated group, and they have a lot of pride in their culture," she said.

The visitors saw it all from seals to coats.

"We saw the whole process of sealskin preparation, beginning in Kimmirut where we saw how they prepared the fresh skin ... we saw the continuation of the process that began in Kimmirut here," said French Hermes employee, Sandrine Hunault while in Iqaluit.

After their experience, their perception of the Nunavut seal hunt was separated from the imagery used to promote the ban of seal products in the European Union.

"They should be able to make a living. They should be able to sell all over the world. They make use of every part of the seal and it's not wasted," said Mickael Delatour, also of France.

The group also purchased works of traditional art, however they encountered some difficulty in transporting it out of the country. Trip organizer Emmanuelle Crane said that it was very difficult to get the paperwork to export animal product pieces, such as the polar bear paw piece that was purchased in Kimmirut. She suggested that government organization on that front would help more artwork get to the rest of the world.

For the most part, though, the trip was a uniquely educational experience. One Hong Kong employee had never seen snow before.

"The iceberg, the ice, was so incredible for me," said Shirley Ng.

-with files from Karen Mackenzie