Hermès

Hermès is a world-renowned French handicraft brand , famous for its handmade leather goods and handbags. It was founded by Thierry Hermès in 1837. It was originally a workshop specializing in making horse harnesses. In the early 20th century, its focus shifted to the production of leather goods and handbags, and gradually added product lines such as scarves, perfumes, fashion, jewelry, and watches. Classic handbag styles include the "Kelly Bag" and the " Birkin Bag".

· Brand History ·

Thierry Hermès (1801-1878) was born in Krefeld, Germany , and later moved to Pont-au-Démer, France , where he began to learn leather and harness making techniques . In 1837, Thierry opened his first workshop in Paris , specializing in making harnesses for European aristocrats . The harnesses made by the Hermès workshop won the "First Prize" at the Paris World Expo in 1855 and 1867.


After Thierry's death, his son Charles-Emile inherited the workshop and moved the store to 24 Faubourg Saint-Honoré in Paris in 1880 , becoming the current Hermès global flagship store . With the assistance of his sons Adolphe and Émile-Maurice, Charles-Emile designed the first saddle , led Hermès into the retail industry , and gradually expanded the business to Europe, North Africa, Russia, Asia, America and other places.

To make it easier for riders to carry their saddles, Hermès launched the Haut à Courroies bag in 1900. After Charles-Emile retired, his sons Adolphe and Émile-Maurice inherited the company and renamed it Hermès Frères (The Hermès Brothers) in 1902.


At the beginning of the 20th century, Hermès began to provide horse harnesses for the family of Russian Tsar Nicholas II . By 1914, the workshop employed as many as 80 saddle craftsmen. After the outbreak of World War I, Émile-Maurice went to the United States to order leather for the French Cavalry Department. He found that the "zipper" had not yet been introduced to Europe . He managed to obtain a patent for the use of "zippers" in leather products, bringing "zippers" to France for the first time .

Due to the advent of the car, the market demand for high-end horse harnesses declined. Adolphe left the company in 1919 , and Émile-Maurice bought out all of his brothers' shares and began to produce products such as bags, luggage and travel goods, sports and car accessories, scarves, perfumes, jewelry and watches.

Hermès' first leather handbag was born in 1922. The reason was that Émile-Maurice's wife complained that there was no style she liked in the handbag, so he personally designed the smaller Haut à Courroies bag , and Hermès gradually transformed into a leather goods manufacturer.

In 1945, Hermès officially registered the "Carriage" trademark , inspired by a gouache painting by French painter Alfred de Dreux, "Le duc attelé , groom à l'attente". After World War II, Hermès used orange gift boxes and ribbons as packaging , which has become the brand's classic logo to this day.

The first classic handbag of Hermès is called the Kelly bag . This bag first appeared in 1935 and was originally called the Sac à dépêches . In 1956, Princess Grace Kelly of Monaco used it to cover her bulging belly during pregnancy . This scene was photographed by a photographer and published in the American magazine Life, which made the Sac à dépêches quickly popular around the world, so it was renamed the Kelly bag.

After Émile-Maurice's death, his son-in-law Robert Dumas-Hermès and Jean-René Guerrand continued to run Hermès, but due to the rise of artificial leather, Hermès's leather goods business fell into a trough. It was not until 1978 that Jean-Louis Dumas became CEO and reinterpreted silk products, leather products and fashion under traditional craftsmanship , which led to a turning point in the company's development.

The second classic handbag of Hermès , the Birkin bag , was born in 1984. The name and inspiration of this bag came from the British actress Jane Birkins . In 1983, Jean-Louis, then CEO of Hermès, and actress Jane Birkins took the same flight, and they happened to sit next to each other. When Jane put her travel bag into the luggage rack, the items inside fell to the ground. She hurriedly packed them up and complained to Jean-Louis. Jean-Louis was inspired to design a large and beautiful handbag , the "Birkin bag".

After entering the 1990s, Hermès quickly increased the number of directly-operated stores and reduced the number of franchised stores to better control product sales channels. It was listed on the Paris Stock Exchange in 1993. As of 2008, it has 14 product departments covering leather goods, scarves, ties, fashion, perfume, jewelry, watches, stationery, etc.

To date, Hermès has been focusing on the traditional business model, rejecting large-scale mass production, production lines or mechanized manufacturing. Almost all of its products come from small and medium-sized handmade workshops in France . To ensure the quality and uniqueness of the products , most items are completed by one person from start to finish , and each bag takes 18-24 hours to make .

·Chronology of major events·