HERMÈS’ History

OPENING OF HERMES IN PARIS (1837)

 

In 1837 Thierry Hermes Jr. opens his workshop in Paris and he caters to the elite of Europe selling very high quality wrought harnesses and bridles.

 

For the next 3 decades the products become synonymous with high quality in craftsmanship and prestige.

 

By 1867 the firm Hermes had won many awards for a couple of decades for the high quality of their products, but still all their products are only related to horses and carriages.

 

CHARLES-EMILE HERMES IN CONTROL (1880)

 

In 1878 Thierry Hermes Jr. dies and by 1880 his son Charles-Emile Hermes takes over the control of the business and moves the store/workshop to a different location, the location where their main office remains today (24 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore, Paris, France).

 

HAUT A COURROIES (1892)

 

By 1892 Charles-Emile had his sons Emile-Maurice and Adolphe helping in the business and with their help he came up with an idea to fabricate a leather bag that would act as a saddle bag and a portable bag as well, they named it “Haut a Courroies”.

 

The portable saddle bag became very popular among the then elites due to its flexibility, it allowed horse riders to take items from the horse saddle and carry them wherever they went in a portable and compact way.

 

In 1902 Charles-Emile Hermes retires and leaves the business to his sons and they rename it Hermes Brothers (Hermes Frères in French).

 

By 1914 they become the purveyor of horse saddles for the Czar of Russia and with this they grow their shop substantially.  During this period Emile-Maurice had a trip to Canada where he noticed the latching mechanism of American military cars and he thought he could adapt it to leather goods, the system was a close-all opening and closing system we know today as the “Zipper”.  He decided to incorporate this system in his leather bags and eventually in leather clothing as well. He went on to buy the exclusive rights of this system which became known in France as the Hermes fastener (fermeture Hermes)

 

By 1917 sales of horse related products had declined enough that Adolphe Hermes lost interest in the business and his brother Emile-Maurice bought him out.

 

EMILE-MAURICE HERMES SOLE OWNER OF HERMES (1922)

 

In 1922, after Emile-Maurice Hermes bought out his brother, the business belonged only to Emile-Maurice and the business had a break-through in 1923, due to the influence of Emile-Maurice’s wife Hermes created their first leather handbag. His wife complained she could not find anything she liked and fit her needs for sale in regular shops, she asked him to design something she could carry with her and put in the car door while in the car.

With the help of Ettore Bugatti, Emile-Maurice Hermes designed a bag that could fit in car doors and could carry many items while still elegant and practical, that bag was the root for what would be in the future their first commercial handbag and what would become one of the most coveted and expensive bags and fashion items in history.

The influence of his wife also helped in morphing the business to create women’s fashion items they could sell at French resorts, including bathing suits. During this period the company began offering their high end products in America and they opened a couple of stores in French resort towns.

 

Between 1925 and 1950 they expanded their product lines offering iconic products like their scarves (which became famous due to celebrities like Jacqueline Kennedy wearing them), jewelry items like bracelets, riding jackets and even perfumes. And for men they had an iconic golf jacket and golf leather accessories.

 

THE “KELLY” BAG (1935)

 

In 1928 Robert Dumas, husband of Emile-Maurice’s daughter Jacqueline helped re-design that bag his father- in-law had designed for his mother-in-law, he adapted that bag to be more portable and more fashionable. The bag was named “Sac a depeches (Sac à Dépêches)” or a dispatch bag in English. The bag was big, with a very ample base that allowed to carry lots of items and unlike common bags at the time it had a handle to be carried as a handbag, at the time most bags where similar to leather envelopes/binders you would carry on your hand, not with your hand.

 

In 1935 they introduced  the “Sac a depeches” to the market and it became very popular among rich business men , they used it in a similar way to what we know today as a briefcase. Some rich women adopted it too, due to its practicality and elegancy.

The bag went on decades later to become what is known now as the “Kelly” bag (this happened in 1956 when a photo of Grace Kelly, then Hollywood actress turned Princes of Monaco is seen carrying one of those bags to cover her pregnant belly). (For more details about the Kelly bag visit our Kelly bag page).

 

ROBERT DUMAS & JEAN-RENE GUERRAND IN CONTROL (1951)

 

In 1951 Emile-Maurice Hermes dies and the two husbands of his daughters and granddaughters of the original founder (Thierry Hermes Jr.) take over the business. One was Robert Dumas (husband of Jacqueline Hermes) and the other was a perfumer named Jean Rene Guerrand  (husband of Aline Hermes).

 

JEAN-LOUIS DUMAS IN CONTROL (1978)

 

In 1978 Robert Dumas’ son Jean Louis Dumas takes over the company. But he had been working for a few years within the company revolutionizing it.

 

Jean Louis Dumas, with his world vision, expanded the product lines and the world presence of Hermes. In 1976 he expanded the company to shoemaking with the help of a well known shoemaker, he got the company involved in watch making in 1978, creating the watch division called La Montre Hermes. In 1993 he integrated to Hermes the Puiforcat silversmith company then in 1995 he integrated the Saint-Louis crystalworks.

 

 

THE “BIRKIN” BAG (1983)

 

In 1983 Hermes created the Birkin bag. The bag was created after Jean Louis Dumas got to talk to the famous English-French actress Jane Birkin during a shared flight from Paris to London, during the flight she had an incident where the contents of her whicker bag spilled while loading the bag on the overhead compartment  and Jean-Louis Dumas helped her retrieve them, they talked about what the perfect bag should feature,  and he worked on the concept right there on the plane during the flight, then at the Hermes shop, until creating her ideal bag, she was gifted one of those bags, a 40cm version,  and later they introduced that type of bag to the market.  The ideal bag for Jane Birkin was a bag that was big, had pockets, was elegant and could be used for evening or daytime indistinctively.

 

In 1984 the Birkin bag was introduced to the market. Initially the bag was not so popular, rich people at the time coveted Chanel bags and Hermes was very well known among rich people as  a brand of highly luxurious leather accessories and other items but not a high volume/high sales name, but after an episode aired on 2002 on the TV show Sex and the City where the character played by Kim Cattral named “Samantha Jones” was carrying one of those bags and said referring to the bag “it’s not a bag, it’s a Birkin!”  the popularity  of the bag among fashionistas and the rich and famous exploded.

 

That TV show has made many items very popular and coveted among fashionistas.

 

Due to its popularity and very limited production, the Birkin bag has become one of the most sought after and expensive handbags in the world. The bag is a symbol of success and the highest of luxury in fashion. The bag is so special and exclusive it has a waiting list of upwards of six years and it is said even to get on the waiting list is difficult.

 

Because of the long waiting list and difficulty to acquire one, the market for previously owned Hermes bags has become very active.

 

(Fortunately we have a huge selection of pre-owned ones to choose from from our list of prestigious stores, all offering authenticated pieces so you can buy with confidence. (For more details about the Birkin bag visit our Birkin bag page).

 

In the past almost 30 years Hermes has become one of the biggest names in luxury goods and luxury fashion. They have over 200 stores worldwide and their flagship store is now located in New York City.

 

PATRICK THOMAS IN CONTROL (2003-2014)

 

The company was managed from 2003 to 2014 by Patrick Thomas who was the right hand man of Jean Louis Dumas, with  Jean Louis Dumas’ son Pierre-Alexis Dumas as the artistic director of Hermes.

 

Patrick Thomas worked at Hermes for some time but left in 1989 to work as an executive  of several important French companies, he returned to Hermes and became in 2003 Chief Operating Officer replacing Jean-Louis Dumas in 2003 when he decided to retire.

 

AXEL DUMAS AND HENRI-LOUIS BAUER IN CONTROL (2014-Today)

 

 When Patrick Thomas retired  Jean Louis Dumas’ nephew Axel Dumas and Henri Louis Bauer (representing Emile Hermes SAS) became the co-chairmen of the Board at Hermes and control the company today. With this Hermes has been directly under the control of the Hermes-Dumas family for six generations.

 

 

The two most iconic items people covet from Hermes are their Birkin and Kelly bags. They have some of the records of the highest priced vintage bags in history.

 

But any item from Hermes is considered highly luxurious, special and exclusive.

 

Hermes watches for instance are priced at levels that only the most coveted luxury brands like Rolex, Cartier, Piaget, Patek Phillipe or Audemas Piguet can fetch.

 

Hermes scarves are considered the most luxurious scarves in the world and vintage pieces are regularly sold for record prices.

 

Hermes regularly partners with the top names in the world to produce limited edition items, including limited edition exotic cars in previous partnerships with Rolls Royce, Bugatti, Lamborghini and Mc Laren.