Hermès
Encyclopedia
Hermès International S.A., or simply Hermès (ɛʁmɛs, ɛərˈmɛz) is a French high fashion
house established in 1837, today specializing in leather, lifestyle accessories, perfume
ry, luxury goods, and ready-to-wear
. Its logo, since the 1950s, is of a Duc
carriage with horse.
, Jacques Delahaye, Catherine de Karolyi, Monsieur Levaillant, Nicole de Vesian, Eric Bergère, Claude Brouet, Tan Giudicelli, Marc Audibet, Mariot Chane, Martin Margiela
, Jean-Paul Gaultier
, Veronique Nichanian (current men's-wear designer), Christophe Lemaire (current women's-wear designer).
The Hermès family, originally Protestant Germans
, settled in France in 1828. In 1837, Thierry Hermès (1801–1878) first established Hermès as a harness workshop
on the Grands Boulevards quarter of Paris, dedicated to serving European noblemen
. He created some of the finest wrought harnesses and bridles for the carriage trade. Monsieur Hermès's earned citations included the first prize in its class in 1855 and the first-class medal in 1867 at the Expositions Universelles in Paris.
Hermès's son, Charles-Émile Hermès (1835–1919), took over management from his father and moved the shop in 1880 to 24 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, where it remains today and where the new leader introduced saddle
ry and began retail sales. With the aid of sons Adolphe and Émile-Maurice Hermès, the company catered to the élite of Europe, North Africa, Russia, Asia, and the Americas. In 1900, the firm offered the Haut à Courroies bag, specially designed for riders to carry their saddles with them.
for leather goods and clothing and, thus, became the first to introduce the device in France. And, in 1918, the first leather golf jacket with a zipper, made by Hermès, was introduced. It was followed by Hermès's first leather garment, a zippered golfing jacket for the Prince of Wales
. Named after its exclusive use of the zipper, the mechanism was called the fermature Hermès (the Hermès fastener).
Throughout the 1920s when he was the sole head of the firm, Émile-Maurice added an accessory collection. And he groomed his three sons-in-law (Robert Dumas, Jean-René Guerrand and Francis Puech) as business partners.
In 1922, the first leather handbags were introduced after Émile-Maurice's wife complained of not finding a suitable one to her liking. He created a handbag collection himself.
In 1924, Hermès established a presence in the United States and opened two shops in French resorts. In 1929, the first women's couture
apparel collection was previewed in Paris. And, during the 1930s, Hermès produced some of its most recognized original goods. In 1935, the leather Sac à dépêches (later renamed the "Kelly bag") was introduced, and, in 1937, the Hermès carrés (scarves) were introduced.
Following the introduction of scarves, the accessory became integrated into French culture
. In 1938, the Chaîne d’ancre bracelet and the riding jacket and outfit joined the classic collection. By this point, the company's designers began to draw inspirations from paintings, books, and objets d’art. The 1930s also witnessed Hermès's entrance into the United States market by offering its products in a Neiman Marcus department store in New York; however, it later withdrew. In 1949, the same year as the launch of the Hermès silk tie, the first perfume, Eau d'Hermès, was produced.
Starting in the mid-1930s, Hermès employed Swiss watchmaker Universal Genève
as the brand's first and exclusive designer of timepieces, producing a line of men's wrist chronograph
s (manufactured in 18K
gold
or stainless steel
) and women's art deco
cuff watches (in 18K gold, steel or platinum
). Both models contained dials signed either as "Hermès" or "Hermès Universal Genève", while the watch movements
were signed "Universal Genève S.A.". The Hermès/Universal partnership would last until the 1950s.
In a time during his management, Émile-Maurice summarized the Hermès philosophy as "Leather, sport, and a tradition of refined elegance."
The company also acquired its duc-carriage-with-horse logo and signature orange boxes in the early 1950s. Dumas introduced original handbags, jewelry, and accessories and was particularly interested in design possibilities with the silk scarves. Ironically, during the mid-20th century, scarf production diminished. World Tempus, a Web portal
dedicated to watchmaking, states: "Brought to life by the magic wand of Annie Beaumel, the windows of the store on Faubourg Saint-Honoré became a theatre of enchantment and [established the store as] a Parisian meeting-place for international celebrities." In 1956, a photo of Grace Kelly, who had become the new Princess of Monaco
), was shown carrying the Sac à dépêches bag in a photography in Life
. Purportedly, she held it in front of herself to cover up her pregnancy. Thus, the public began calling it the "Kelly" bag. The name was subsequently adopted by Hermès, and the bag became hugely popular.
The perfume business became a subsidiary in 1961, concurrently with the introduction of the Calèche scent, named after a hooded four-wheeled horse carriage, known since the 18th century - the Company's logo since fifties. (In 2004, Jean-Claude Ellena
became the in-house perfumer or "nose" and created the successful Hermessence line of fragrances as well as others.)
Jean-Louis Dumas
, the son of Robert Dumas-Hermès, became chairman in 1978 and had the firm concentrate on silk and leather goods and ready-to-wear, adding new product groups to those made with its traditional techniques. Unlike his father, Jean-Louis was related to the Hermès maternally. Travelling extensively and marrying Rena Greforiadès, he entered the buyer-training program at Bloomingdale's
, the New York department store. Having joined the family firm in 1964, he was intrumental in turning around its downhill progression.
Dumas brought in designers Eric Bergére and Bernard Sanz to revamp the apparel collection and, in collaboration, added unusual entries. They included the python motorcycle jackets and ostrich-skin jeans, which were dubbed as "a snazzier version of what Hermès has been all along." (Annual sales in 1978, when Jean-Louis became head of the firm, were reported at US$50 million. By 1990, annual sales were reported at US$460 million, mainly due to Dumas's strategy.) In 1979, Jean-Louis launched an advertising campaign featuring a young, denim
-clad woman wearing an Hermès scarf. The purpose was to introduce the Hermès brand to a new set of consumers. As one fashion-sector observer noted, "Much of what bears the still-discreet Hermès label changed from the object of an old person's nostalgia
to the subject of young peoples' dreams." However, Dumas's change-of-image gesture created outrage both within and outside of the firm.
Also in the 1970s, the watch subsidiary, La Montre Hermès, was established in Bienne, Switzerland. Then, throughout the 1980s, Dumas strengthened the company's hold on its suppliers, resulting in Hermès's gaining great stakes in prominent French glassware
, silver
ware acquiring venerable tableware
manufacturers such as Puiforcat, St. Louis, and Périgord.
Hermès relocated its workshops and design studios to Pantin, just outside of Paris. By June 1993 and possibly a grave mistake, Hermès had gone public on the Paris Bourse
(stock exchange). At the time, the equity sale generated great excitement. The 425,000 shares floated at FFr 300 (US$55 at the time) were oversubscribed by 34 times. Dumas told Forbes magazine that the equity sale would help lessen family tensions by allowing some members to liquidate their holdings without "squabbling over share valuations among themselves."
To this point in time, the Hermès family was still retaining a strong hold of about 80% in stocks, placing Jean-Louis Dumas and the entire family on the Forbes
list of billionaires. Mimi Tompkins of U.S. News & World Report called the company "one of Paris' best guarded jewels."
In the years to follow, Dumas began to decrease Hermès franchises from 250 to 200 and increased company-owned stores from 60 to 100 to better control sales of its products. The plan was to cost about FFr 200 million in the short term but was to increase profits in the long term. Having around FFr 500 million to invest, Hermès pressed ahead, targeting China for company-operated boutiques, finally opening a store in Beijing in 1996.
In 1997, Jean-Louis hired Belgian modernist
designer Martin Margiela to supervise women's ready-to-wear.
By the late 1990s, Hermès continued extensively to diminish the number of franchise
d stores, buying them up and opening more company-operated boutiques. The fashion industry was caught off guard in September 1999, when Jean-Louis decided to paid FFr 150 million for a 35% stake in the Jean-Paul Gaultier fashion house. Greeted nonetheless as a positive development both for the relatively small Gaultier group and for Hermès, it was seen as part of a consolidation in the luxury goods market. In the latter part of the 1900s, the company encouraged its clientele to faites nous rêver (make us dream), producing throughout the period artistically atypical orders.
, as the head designer, debuted his first haute-couture collection for fall/winter 2004–05.
After 28 years as head of the firm, Jean-Louis Robert Frédéric Dumas-Hermès retired from the firm in January 2006. Known for his charm and one of Europe's greatest experts on luxury, he died in 2010 after a long illness. Patrick Thomas, who had joined the company in 1989 and who had worked with Jean-Louis as the co-CEO from 2005, replaced him that month. Thomas became the first non-Hermès to head the company. Jean-Louis's son Pierre-Alexis Dumas is the artistic director.
, Hermès has 14 product divisions encompassing leather, scarves, ties, men's wear, women's fashion, perfume, watches, stationery, footwear, gloves, enamel, decorative arts, tableware, and jewelry.
Hermès sales are composed of about 30% leather goods, 15% clothes, 12% scarves, and 43% other wares. The company licenses no products and keeps tight control over the design and manufacture of its vast inventory.
The scarf or carré was introduced in 1928. One of the first, which was a print of white-wigged females playing a popular period game, was a custom-made accessory named Jeu des Omnibus et Dames Blanches. Hermès oversaw the production of its scarves throughout the entire process, purchasing raw Chinese silk, spinning it into yarn
, and weaving it into fabric twice as strong and heavy as most scarves available at the time.
The company's scarf designers spend years creating new print patterns, individually screen-printed with vegetable dye. Each added color dries for a month before the next color is applied. Designers chose from over 200,000 different colors. Forty-three is the highest number of screens used for one scarf to date, which is the "Charity" scarf, released in 2006. When scarf production first began, a dedicated scarf factory was established in Lyon, France; the same year, Hermès celebrated its 100th anniversary.
Contemporary Hermès scarves measure 90 cm × 90 cm, weigh 65 grams and are woven from the silk of 250 mulberry moth
cocoons. The all hems are hand-stitched. Scarf motifs are wide ranging, and, unprecedentedly, the carrés are scented. Two silk-scarf collections per year are released, along with some reprints of older designs and limited editions. And two collections per year are introduced in a cashmere
/silk blend. Since 1937, Hermès has produced over 25,000 unique designs; the horse motif is particularly famous and popular. The seen-everywhere "Brides De Gala" version, introduced in the 1970s, has been produced more than 70,000 times. An Hermès scarf is sold somewhere in the world every 25 seconds; by the late 1970s more than 1.1 million scarves had been sold worldwide.
So popular are the scarves that some have found themselves:
Introduced in 1949, men's neckties, in a huge array of motifs over the years from bunnies to confetti, have been made from the same high-quality silk material as the scarves and are, likewise, very expensive.
n nomad
s' traditional motifs are often mirrored in various Hermès products, including in scarves.
Hermès is renowned for its handmade luggage and handbags. The company does not use assembly lines. Only one craftsperson, who may have been employed by the company for decades, makes a single handbag at a time, hand-stitching individual pieces with linen thread and using an awl. One bag might require 18 to 24 hours to produce. The construction of each "Kelly" bag, for example, requires 18 hours to fully realize. Hermès's leathers come from all over the world. Claims abound that customers must wait one year for delivery of the "Kelly" and "Contance" bags are not true. Incidentally, should Hermès's leather goods require repair, owners can bring an item to any Hermès store, where it will be shipped to the Atelier Hermès in Pantin, near Paris, for repair or reconditioning.
Another famous Hermès handbag, the "Birkin
", was named after British actress Jane Birkin
. After a chance encounter with Jean-Louis Dumas, she complained that her "Kelly" bag was not practical for everyday use. Consequently, he invited her to France where they co-designed the bag. Ironically, Ms. Birkin has since stopped carrying her namesake bag, saying it contributed to her tendonitis
. Nevertheless, the bag is highly popular with others, regardless of its very high price.
Women's fragrances include:
Men's fragrances include:
Unisex frangrances include:
. Some industry insiders are in doubt, such as René Weber, an analyst at Zürich
's Bank Vontobel, who has claimed: "Arnault is not afraid of a fight and a lot of his battles have been successful for him and his shareholders. Whether he can eventually succeed with [a takeover of] Hermès is still an open question." Bertrand Puech, who chairs the main Hermès family holding company, has criticised LVMH's acquisition of Hermès shares and called on the company to reduce its stake by half.
Fashion design
Fashion design is the art of the application of design and aesthetics or natural beauty to clothing and accessories. Fashion design is influenced by cultural and social latitudes, and has varied over time and place. Fashion designers work in a number of ways in designing clothing and accessories....
house established in 1837, today specializing in leather, lifestyle accessories, perfume
Perfume
Perfume is a mixture of fragrant essential oils and/or aroma compounds, fixatives, and solvents used to give the human body, animals, objects, and living spaces "a pleasant scent"...
ry, luxury goods, and ready-to-wear
Ready-to-wear
Ready-to-wear or prêt-à-porter is the term for factory-made clothing, sold in finished condition, in standardized sizes, as distinct from made to measure or bespoke clothing tailored to a particular person's frame. Off-the-peg is sometimes used for items which are not clothing.Ready-to-wear has...
. Its logo, since the 1950s, is of a Duc
Duke
A duke or duchess is a member of the nobility, historically of highest rank below the monarch, and historically controlling a duchy...
carriage with horse.
History
Designers throughout the company's history have included Lola PrusacLola Prusac
Lola Prusac, noted for her inventive and original way of dressing herself, worked for Hermès in Paris between 1925 and 1935. She was first "with the unusual position of counselor for colors", then as a modéliste...
, Jacques Delahaye, Catherine de Karolyi, Monsieur Levaillant, Nicole de Vesian, Eric Bergère, Claude Brouet, Tan Giudicelli, Marc Audibet, Mariot Chane, Martin Margiela
Martin Margiela
Martin Margiela is a Belgian fashion designer. He studied at Antwerp's Royal Academy of Fine Arts along with the legendary avantgarde fashion collective the Antwerp Six. Many still consider him to be the "7th" member of the collective.- Life and work:After graduation in 1980 he worked as a...
, Jean-Paul Gaultier
Jean-Paul Gaultier
Jean Paul Gaultier , born 24 April 1952 in Arcueil, Val-de-Marne, France) is a French haute couture fashion designer. Gaultier was the creative director of Hermès from 2003 to 2010. In the past, he has hosted the television series Eurotrash....
, Veronique Nichanian (current men's-wear designer), Christophe Lemaire (current women's-wear designer).
Beginnings in the 19th century
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
, settled in France in 1828. In 1837, Thierry Hermès (1801–1878) first established Hermès as a harness workshop
Workshop
A workshop is a room or building which provides both the area and tools that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods...
on the Grands Boulevards quarter of Paris, dedicated to serving European noblemen
Aristocracy (class)
The aristocracy are people considered to be in the highest social class in a society which has or once had a political system of Aristocracy. Aristocrats possess hereditary titles granted by a monarch, which once granted them feudal or legal privileges, or deriving, as in Ancient Greece and India,...
. He created some of the finest wrought harnesses and bridles for the carriage trade. Monsieur Hermès's earned citations included the first prize in its class in 1855 and the first-class medal in 1867 at the Expositions Universelles in Paris.
Hermès's son, Charles-Émile Hermès (1835–1919), took over management from his father and moved the shop in 1880 to 24 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, where it remains today and where the new leader introduced saddle
Saddle
A saddle is a supportive structure for a rider or other load, fastened to an animal's back by a girth. The most common type is the equestrian saddle designed for a horse, but specialized saddles have been created for camels and other creatures...
ry and began retail sales. With the aid of sons Adolphe and Émile-Maurice Hermès, the company catered to the élite of Europe, North Africa, Russia, Asia, and the Americas. In 1900, the firm offered the Haut à Courroies bag, specially designed for riders to carry their saddles with them.
Hermès Frères era
After Charles-Emile Hermès's retirement, sons Adolphe and Émile-Maurice took leadership and renamed the company Hermès Frères. Shortly after, Émile-Maurice began furnishing the czar of Russia with saddles. By 1914, up to 80 saddle craftsmen were employed. Subsequently, Émile-Maurice was granted the exclusive rights to use the zipperZipper
A zipper is a commonly used device for temporarily joining two edges of fabric...
for leather goods and clothing and, thus, became the first to introduce the device in France. And, in 1918, the first leather golf jacket with a zipper, made by Hermès, was introduced. It was followed by Hermès's first leather garment, a zippered golfing jacket for the Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales is a title traditionally granted to the heir apparent to the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the 15 other independent Commonwealth realms...
. Named after its exclusive use of the zipper, the mechanism was called the fermature Hermès (the Hermès fastener).
Throughout the 1920s when he was the sole head of the firm, Émile-Maurice added an accessory collection. And he groomed his three sons-in-law (Robert Dumas, Jean-René Guerrand and Francis Puech) as business partners.
In 1922, the first leather handbags were introduced after Émile-Maurice's wife complained of not finding a suitable one to her liking. He created a handbag collection himself.
In 1924, Hermès established a presence in the United States and opened two shops in French resorts. In 1929, the first women's couture
Haute couture
Haute couture refers to the creation of exclusive custom-fitted clothing. Haute couture is made to order for a specific customer, and it is usually made from high-quality, expensive fabric and sewn with extreme attention to detail and finished by the most experienced and capable seamstresses,...
apparel collection was previewed in Paris. And, during the 1930s, Hermès produced some of its most recognized original goods. In 1935, the leather Sac à dépêches (later renamed the "Kelly bag") was introduced, and, in 1937, the Hermès carrés (scarves) were introduced.
Following the introduction of scarves, the accessory became integrated into French culture
Culture of France
The culture of France and of the French people has been shaped by geography, by profound historical events, and by foreign and internal forces and groups. France, and in particular Paris, has played an important role as a center of high culture and of decorative arts since the seventeenth...
. In 1938, the Chaîne d’ancre bracelet and the riding jacket and outfit joined the classic collection. By this point, the company's designers began to draw inspirations from paintings, books, and objets d’art. The 1930s also witnessed Hermès's entrance into the United States market by offering its products in a Neiman Marcus department store in New York; however, it later withdrew. In 1949, the same year as the launch of the Hermès silk tie, the first perfume, Eau d'Hermès, was produced.
Starting in the mid-1930s, Hermès employed Swiss watchmaker Universal Genève
Universal Geneve
Universal Genève SA is a Swiss luxury watch company, founded in 1894 as "Universal Watch".Since its beginnings, the company has produced complete watches with in-house movements, and throughout the 20th century, distributed many notable and important timepieces...
as the brand's first and exclusive designer of timepieces, producing a line of men's wrist chronograph
Chronograph
A chronograph is a timepiece or watch with both timekeeping and stopwatch functions as well as other functions. Pocket watch chronographs were produced as early as the 18th century but did not become popular until the 1820s...
s (manufactured in 18K
Carat (purity)
The karat or carat is a unit of purity for gold alloys.- Measure :Karat purity is measured as 24 times the purity by mass:where...
gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
or stainless steel
Stainless steel
In metallurgy, stainless steel, also known as inox steel or inox from French "inoxydable", is defined as a steel alloy with a minimum of 10.5 or 11% chromium content by mass....
) and women's art deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
cuff watches (in 18K gold, steel or platinum
Platinum
Platinum is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Pt and an atomic number of 78. Its name is derived from the Spanish term platina del Pinto, which is literally translated into "little silver of the Pinto River." It is a dense, malleable, ductile, precious, gray-white transition metal...
). Both models contained dials signed either as "Hermès" or "Hermès Universal Genève", while the watch movements
Movement (clockwork)
In horology, a movement is the internal mechanism of a clock or watch, as opposed to the case, which encloses and protects the movement, and the face which displays the time. The term originated with mechanical timepieces, whose movements are made of many moving parts...
were signed "Universal Genève S.A.". The Hermès/Universal partnership would last until the 1950s.
In a time during his management, Émile-Maurice summarized the Hermès philosophy as "Leather, sport, and a tradition of refined elegance."
Post-Émile-Maurice Hermès
Robert Dumas-Hermès (1898–1978), who succeeded Émile-Maurice after his death in 1951, closely collaborated with brother-in-law Jean-René Guerrand. Dumas became the first man not directly descended from Hermès père to lead the company because his connection to the family was only through marriage. Thus, he incorporated the Hermès last name into his own, Dumas-Hermès.The company also acquired its duc-carriage-with-horse logo and signature orange boxes in the early 1950s. Dumas introduced original handbags, jewelry, and accessories and was particularly interested in design possibilities with the silk scarves. Ironically, during the mid-20th century, scarf production diminished. World Tempus, a Web portal
Web portal
A web portal or links page is a web site that functions as a point of access to information in the World Wide Web. A portal presents information from diverse sources in a unified way....
dedicated to watchmaking, states: "Brought to life by the magic wand of Annie Beaumel, the windows of the store on Faubourg Saint-Honoré became a theatre of enchantment and [established the store as] a Parisian meeting-place for international celebrities." In 1956, a photo of Grace Kelly, who had become the new Princess of Monaco
Monaco
Monaco , officially the Principality of Monaco , is a sovereign city state on the French Riviera. It is bordered on three sides by its neighbour, France, and its centre is about from Italy. Its area is with a population of 35,986 as of 2011 and is the most densely populated country in the...
), was shown carrying the Sac à dépêches bag in a photography in Life
Life (magazine)
Life generally refers to three American magazines:*A humor and general interest magazine published from 1883 to 1936. Time founder Henry Luce bought the magazine in 1936 solely so that he could acquire the rights to its name....
. Purportedly, she held it in front of herself to cover up her pregnancy. Thus, the public began calling it the "Kelly" bag. The name was subsequently adopted by Hermès, and the bag became hugely popular.
The perfume business became a subsidiary in 1961, concurrently with the introduction of the Calèche scent, named after a hooded four-wheeled horse carriage, known since the 18th century - the Company's logo since fifties. (In 2004, Jean-Claude Ellena
Jean-Claude Ellena
Jean-Claude Ellena is a perfumer or "nose." He has the business and practice of perfumery in his blood. At an early age, he picked roses with his grandmother to sell to perfumers, and, in fact, his father, brother, and daughter are perfumers...
became the in-house perfumer or "nose" and created the successful Hermessence line of fragrances as well as others.)
The rise and fall and rise of Hermès
Despite the company's apparent success in the 1970s, exemplified by multiple shops being established worldwide, Hermès began to fall, compared to competitors. Some industry observers have assigned the cause to Hermès's insistence on the exclusive use of natural materials for its products, unlike other companies that were calling on new man-made materials. During a two-week lapse in orders, the Hermès workrooms were silent.Jean-Louis Dumas
Jean-Louis Dumas
Jean-Louis Dumas was a French businessman who served as the chairman of the Hermès group from 1978 until 2006. He also served as the company's artistic director. Dumas is credited with turning Hermès into a global luxury brand during his tenure as chairman.Dumas' family founded Hermès in 1837...
, the son of Robert Dumas-Hermès, became chairman in 1978 and had the firm concentrate on silk and leather goods and ready-to-wear, adding new product groups to those made with its traditional techniques. Unlike his father, Jean-Louis was related to the Hermès maternally. Travelling extensively and marrying Rena Greforiadès, he entered the buyer-training program at Bloomingdale's
Bloomingdale's
Bloomingdale's is an American department store owned by Macy's, Inc. .Bloomingdale's started in 1861 when brothers Joseph and Lyman G. Bloomingdale started selling hoop-skirts in their Ladies Notions' Shop on Manhattan's Lower East Side...
, the New York department store. Having joined the family firm in 1964, he was intrumental in turning around its downhill progression.
Dumas brought in designers Eric Bergére and Bernard Sanz to revamp the apparel collection and, in collaboration, added unusual entries. They included the python motorcycle jackets and ostrich-skin jeans, which were dubbed as "a snazzier version of what Hermès has been all along." (Annual sales in 1978, when Jean-Louis became head of the firm, were reported at US$50 million. By 1990, annual sales were reported at US$460 million, mainly due to Dumas's strategy.) In 1979, Jean-Louis launched an advertising campaign featuring a young, denim
Denim
Denim is a rugged cotton twill textile, in which the weft passes under two or more warp threads. This produces the familiar diagonal ribbing identifiable on the reverse of the fabric, which distinguishes denim from cotton duck. Denim has been in American usage since the late 18th century...
-clad woman wearing an Hermès scarf. The purpose was to introduce the Hermès brand to a new set of consumers. As one fashion-sector observer noted, "Much of what bears the still-discreet Hermès label changed from the object of an old person's nostalgia
Nostalgia
The term nostalgia describes a yearning for the past, often in idealized form.The word is a learned formation of a Greek compound, consisting of , meaning "returning home", a Homeric word, and , meaning "pain, ache"...
to the subject of young peoples' dreams." However, Dumas's change-of-image gesture created outrage both within and outside of the firm.
Also in the 1970s, the watch subsidiary, La Montre Hermès, was established in Bienne, Switzerland. Then, throughout the 1980s, Dumas strengthened the company's hold on its suppliers, resulting in Hermès's gaining great stakes in prominent French glassware
Glassware
This list of glassware includes drinking vessels , tableware, such as dishes, and flatware used to set a table for eating a meal, general glass items such as vases, and glasses used in the catering industry whether made of glass or plastics such as polystyrene and...
, silver
Silver (household)
Household silver or silverware includes dishware, cutlery and other household items made of sterling, Britannia or Sheffield plate silver. The term is often extended to items made of stainless steel...
ware acquiring venerable tableware
Tableware
Tableware is the dishes or dishware , dinnerware , or china used for setting a table, serving food, and for dining. Tableware can be meant to include flatware and glassware...
manufacturers such as Puiforcat, St. Louis, and Périgord.
Hermès's growth
From the 1980s, tableware became a strong segments of the firm. And, overall, the collection of Hermès goods expanded in 1990 to include over 30,000 pieces. New materials used in the collection included porcelain and crystal.Hermès relocated its workshops and design studios to Pantin, just outside of Paris. By June 1993 and possibly a grave mistake, Hermès had gone public on the Paris Bourse
Bourse
Bourse may refer to:*exchange *stock exchange*Bourse : metro station, Paris, France*Bourse de Travail: French labor council-Exchanges:*Paris Bourse: Euronext Paris, historical Paris stock exchange...
(stock exchange). At the time, the equity sale generated great excitement. The 425,000 shares floated at FFr 300 (US$55 at the time) were oversubscribed by 34 times. Dumas told Forbes magazine that the equity sale would help lessen family tensions by allowing some members to liquidate their holdings without "squabbling over share valuations among themselves."
To this point in time, the Hermès family was still retaining a strong hold of about 80% in stocks, placing Jean-Louis Dumas and the entire family on the Forbes
Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
list of billionaires. Mimi Tompkins of U.S. News & World Report called the company "one of Paris' best guarded jewels."
In the years to follow, Dumas began to decrease Hermès franchises from 250 to 200 and increased company-owned stores from 60 to 100 to better control sales of its products. The plan was to cost about FFr 200 million in the short term but was to increase profits in the long term. Having around FFr 500 million to invest, Hermès pressed ahead, targeting China for company-operated boutiques, finally opening a store in Beijing in 1996.
In 1997, Jean-Louis hired Belgian modernist
Modernism
Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society...
designer Martin Margiela to supervise women's ready-to-wear.
By the late 1990s, Hermès continued extensively to diminish the number of franchise
Franchising
Franchising is the practice of using another firm's successful business model. The word 'franchise' is of anglo-French derivation - from franc- meaning free, and is used both as a noun and as a verb....
d stores, buying them up and opening more company-operated boutiques. The fashion industry was caught off guard in September 1999, when Jean-Louis decided to paid FFr 150 million for a 35% stake in the Jean-Paul Gaultier fashion house. Greeted nonetheless as a positive development both for the relatively small Gaultier group and for Hermès, it was seen as part of a consolidation in the luxury goods market. In the latter part of the 1900s, the company encouraged its clientele to faites nous rêver (make us dream), producing throughout the period artistically atypical orders.
The 2000s to today
In 2000, Hermes moved the clothing segment to China, managed by family member Claude Brouet. And the first John Lobb footwear store was also opened that year in New York. In 2003, iconoclastic Margiela left Hermès, and the highly controversial Jean-Paul GaultierJean-Paul Gaultier
Jean Paul Gaultier , born 24 April 1952 in Arcueil, Val-de-Marne, France) is a French haute couture fashion designer. Gaultier was the creative director of Hermès from 2003 to 2010. In the past, he has hosted the television series Eurotrash....
, as the head designer, debuted his first haute-couture collection for fall/winter 2004–05.
After 28 years as head of the firm, Jean-Louis Robert Frédéric Dumas-Hermès retired from the firm in January 2006. Known for his charm and one of Europe's greatest experts on luxury, he died in 2010 after a long illness. Patrick Thomas, who had joined the company in 1989 and who had worked with Jean-Louis as the co-CEO from 2005, replaced him that month. Thomas became the first non-Hermès to head the company. Jean-Louis's son Pierre-Alexis Dumas is the artistic director.
Goods
Hermès sales are composed of about 30% leather goods, 15% clothes, 12% scarves, and 43% other wares. The company licenses no products and keeps tight control over the design and manufacture of its vast inventory.
Scarves
The scarf or carré was introduced in 1928. One of the first, which was a print of white-wigged females playing a popular period game, was a custom-made accessory named Jeu des Omnibus et Dames Blanches. Hermès oversaw the production of its scarves throughout the entire process, purchasing raw Chinese silk, spinning it into yarn
Yarn
Yarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibres, suitable for use in the production of textiles, sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery and ropemaking. Thread is a type of yarn intended for sewing by hand or machine. Modern manufactured sewing threads may be finished with wax or...
, and weaving it into fabric twice as strong and heavy as most scarves available at the time.
The company's scarf designers spend years creating new print patterns, individually screen-printed with vegetable dye. Each added color dries for a month before the next color is applied. Designers chose from over 200,000 different colors. Forty-three is the highest number of screens used for one scarf to date, which is the "Charity" scarf, released in 2006. When scarf production first began, a dedicated scarf factory was established in Lyon, France; the same year, Hermès celebrated its 100th anniversary.
Contemporary Hermès scarves measure 90 cm × 90 cm, weigh 65 grams and are woven from the silk of 250 mulberry moth
Bombyx mori
The silkworm is the larva or caterpillar of the domesticated silkmoth, Bombyx mori . It is an economically important insect, being a primary producer of silk...
cocoons. The all hems are hand-stitched. Scarf motifs are wide ranging, and, unprecedentedly, the carrés are scented. Two silk-scarf collections per year are released, along with some reprints of older designs and limited editions. And two collections per year are introduced in a cashmere
Cashmere wool
Cashmere wool, usually simply known as cashmere, is a fiber obtained from Cashmere and other types of goats. The word cashmere derives from an old spelling of Kashmir. Cashmere is fine in texture, and strong, light, and soft. Garments made from it provide excellent...
/silk blend. Since 1937, Hermès has produced over 25,000 unique designs; the horse motif is particularly famous and popular. The seen-everywhere "Brides De Gala" version, introduced in the 1970s, has been produced more than 70,000 times. An Hermès scarf is sold somewhere in the world every 25 seconds; by the late 1970s more than 1.1 million scarves had been sold worldwide.
So popular are the scarves that some have found themselves:
- worn by Queen Elizabeth IIElizabeth II of the United KingdomElizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
in a portrait for a 1956 British postage stampPostage stampA postage stamp is a small piece of paper that is purchased and displayed on an item of mail as evidence of payment of postage. Typically, stamps are made from special paper, with a national designation and denomination on the face, and a gum adhesive on the reverse side...
. - worn by Princess Grace KellyGrace KellyGrace Patricia Kelly was an American actress who, in April 1956, married Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, to become Princess consort of Monaco, styled as Her Serene Highness The Princess of Monaco, and commonly referred to as Princess Grace.After embarking on an acting career in 1950, at the age of...
in a photograph on the cover of a 1956 issue of Life magazine. - used as a sling by Princess Grace for her broken arm.
- employed by actress Sharon StoneSharon StoneSharon Vonne Stone is an American actress, film producer, and former fashion model. She achieved international recognition for her role in the erotic thriller Basic Instinct...
in a bondageBondage (BDSM)Bondage is the use of restraints for the sexual pleasure of the parties involved. It may be used in its own right, as in the case of rope bondage and breast bondage, or as part of sexual activity or BDSM activity.- Private bondage :...
scene in the film Basic Instinct. - made into pillows or otherwise as framed wall-hangings.
Cravats
Partnership with the Tuareg
For years, Hermès has partnered with Tuareg tribesmen on silver jewelry. The well-publicized SaharaSahara
The Sahara is the world's second largest desert, after Antarctica. At over , it covers most of Northern Africa, making it almost as large as Europe or the United States. The Sahara stretches from the Red Sea, including parts of the Mediterranean coasts, to the outskirts of the Atlantic Ocean...
n nomad
Nomad
Nomadic people , commonly known as itinerants in modern-day contexts, are communities of people who move from one place to another, rather than settling permanently in one location. There are an estimated 30-40 million nomads in the world. Many cultures have traditionally been nomadic, but...
s' traditional motifs are often mirrored in various Hermès products, including in scarves.
Leather
Another famous Hermès handbag, the "Birkin
Birkin Bag
The Birkin bag is a handmade purse by Hermès and named after actress and singer Jane Birkin. The bag is a symbol of wealth due to its high price and elusiveness to the public....
", was named after British actress Jane Birkin
Jane Birkin
Jane Mallory Birkin, OBE is an English-born actress and singer who lives in France. In recent years she has written her own album, directed a film and become an outspoken proponent of democracy in Burma.- Early life :...
. After a chance encounter with Jean-Louis Dumas, she complained that her "Kelly" bag was not practical for everyday use. Consequently, he invited her to France where they co-designed the bag. Ironically, Ms. Birkin has since stopped carrying her namesake bag, saying it contributed to her tendonitis
Tendonitis
Tendinitis , meaning inflammation of a tendon , is a type of tendinopathy often confused with the more common tendinosis, which has similar symptoms but requires different treatment...
. Nevertheless, the bag is highly popular with others, regardless of its very high price.
Perfumery
Since 1951, the company has created several scents for both men and women. This is a partial list of over 30.Women's fragrances include:
- Calèche, 1961
- Amazone, 1974
- Parfum d'Hermès, 1984
- 24, Faubourg, 1995
- Hiris, 1999
- Rouge Hermès, 2000
- Eau des Merveilles, 2004
- Kelly Calèche, 2007
Men's fragrances include:
- Bel Ami, 1986
- Équipage, 1970
- Rocabar, 1998
- Terre D'Hermès, 2006
Unisex frangrances include:
- Eau d'Hermès, 1951
- Eau d'Orange Verte, 1999
- Un Jardin en Méditerranée, 2003
- Un Jardin sur le Nil, 2005
- Voyage d’Hermès, 2010
- Four Hermessence scents, 2010, exclusive to Hermès stores.
Shareholder structure
At December 31, 2010, the Hermès family collectively owned a 62.79% stake in Hermès International S.A. through a number of individual and company holdings; the stake entitled the family to 73.96% of voting rights in the company. The luxury goods company LVMH held 20.21% of shares (amassed in the latter half of 2010) and 13.08% of votes at the same date, with 0.39% of shares held as treasury stock and the remaining 16.61% free float. Speculation that LVMH will launch a takeover bid for Hermès has been repeatedly denied by its chairman Bernard ArnaultBernard Arnault
Bernard Arnault is a French business magnate who is best known as the chairman and CEO of the French conglomerate LVMH. According to Forbes Magazine, Arnault is the world's 4th and Europe's richest person, with a 2011 net worth of US$41 billion.-Education and business career:Arnault was born...
. Some industry insiders are in doubt, such as René Weber, an analyst at Zürich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
's Bank Vontobel, who has claimed: "Arnault is not afraid of a fight and a lot of his battles have been successful for him and his shareholders. Whether he can eventually succeed with [a takeover of] Hermès is still an open question." Bertrand Puech, who chairs the main Hermès family holding company, has criticised LVMH's acquisition of Hermès shares and called on the company to reduce its stake by half.
Further reading
- "A Boutique Where You Don’t Just Buy – You Invest," VogueVogue (magazine)Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...
, October 1974. - Van Dyke, Grace, "Hermès: Old World Luxury in the New World," USA TodayUSA TodayUSA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
, July 1994. - Dryansky, G.Y., "Hermès: Quality with a Kick," Harper's BazaarHarper's BazaarHarper’s Bazaar is an American fashion magazine, first published in 1867. Harper’s Bazaar is published by Hearst and, as a magazine, considers itself to be the style resource for “women who are the first to buy the best, from casual to couture.”...
, April 1986. - Berman, Phyllis, "Mass Production? Yech!," Forbes, September 22, 1986.
- "Scarves Everywhere," The New YorkerThe New YorkerThe New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
, January 30, 1989. - Aillaud, Charlotte, "The Hermès Museum: Inspiration for the Celebrated Family Firm," Architectural DigestArchitectural DigestArchitectural Digest is an American monthly magazine. Its principal subject is interior design, not — as the name of the magazine might suggest — architecture more generally. The magazine is published by Condé Nast Publications and was founded in 1920, by the Knapp family, who sold it in 1993...
(U.S.), January 1989. - Tompkins, Mimi, "Sweatshop of the Stars," U.S. News and World Report, February 12, 1990.
- Gandee, Charles, "Jean-Louis Dumas-Hermès Is Flying High," House & GardenHouse & Garden (magazine)House & Garden was an American shelter magazine published by Condé Nast Publications that focused on interior design, entertaining, and gardening....
(New York), August 1990. - "The Handbags to Have," The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, April 14, 1991. - "Hermès: Still in the Saddle," Women's Wear DailyWomen's Wear DailyWomen's Wear Daily is a fashion-industry trade journal sometimes called "the bible of fashion." WWD delivers information and intelligence on changing trends and breaking news in the fashion, beauty and retail industries with a readership composed largely of retailers, designers, manufacturers,...
, September 25, 1991. - "Hermès of Paris, Inc.," The New York Times, October 5, 1991.
- Slesin, Susan, "Ah, the Horse," The New York Times, May 21, 1992.
- Ellena, Jean-Claude, Perfume: The Alchemy of Scent, New York: Arcade, 2009.
- Burr, Chandler, The Perfect Scent: A Year Inside the Perfume Industry in Paris and New York, New York: Henry Holt, 2007.
- Frimes, William, Jean-Louis Dumas, Chief of Hermès, Dies at 72, The New York Times, May 3, 2010.
- Colino, Nadine, The Hermès Scarf: History & Mistique, New York: Thames & Hudson, 2010.