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Hermès
Tagline
Net Worth
$112,040,000,000
Started in (City)
Paris
Started in (Country)
France
Incorporation Date
01st December, 1837
Bankruptcy Date
-
Founders
- Thierry Hermès
About
Hermes is the international S.A. brand is a French high fashion luxury goods manufacture. It specializes in leather, lifestyle accessories, home furnishings, perfumery, jewelry, watches, and ready-to-wear. Hermes is a fashion house that is placed a foot in history and tradition. Family-owned for five generations of their business. It begins with saddlery and fine leather goods. Its logo, since the 1950s is of Duc Carriage with the horse. It’s all beginning in 1800 when Hermes started as a harness workshop in Paris, which make the upper-class Europeans and elite. Due to their high-quality workmanship, they won many prizes.
Fast forward to 40 years, they added saddlery and the sale of their products, for famous and infamous Russian czars were among their top clients. With a heavy-loaded past, the emblematic logo of a horse carriage is what carries the brand history with it through time. In 1808 Thierry Hermes was born in Krefeld, Germany to an immigrant father Thierry Hermes, and a German mother Agnese Kuhnen. Due to the textile history the town of Krefeld is known as “Stadt wie samt und seide” it means the city of velvet and silk.
Beginning
In 1828 the Hermes family moves to Pont Audemer which is located in the north of Paris where Thierry jr. learns the trade of leather making and begins crafting harnesses. In 1828 he married Christine Petrionille Pierrot. In 1831 Thierry jr. and his wife welcome their first son Charles – Emile, who will be the heir to the Hermes throne. In 1837 the Thierry Hermes jr. first establishes a workshop for harness in the Grands Boulevards Quarters of Paris, which was dedicated to serving many noble European men. In 1878 Thierry Hermes jr. passed away after that his son Charles Emile Hermès took over the management in 1880 and he moved his father’s workshop as well as moves the store to a different location, on 24 Rue De Faubourg Saint-Honore, where it remained till this day. Charles-Emile had two sons Adolphe and Emile-Mauri. Along with his sons, they expand their business and focuses on international retail sales with lines catering to the elite of Europe, Russia, North Africa, Asia, and America. Adolphe left Emile with the business because he believed that the company didn’t have a long future in the era of carriage by buying his brother's share.
Road to Success
In 1900 with his sons, they introduced the “in tough Haut” a Curries bag. Emile-Maurice got the two years patent for the zipper which was known as the Hermes fastener which leads to transformation in the clothing era. In 1918 Hermes introduced the first leather golf jacket with a zipper made for the Prince of Wales, Edward later known in France as the Fermeture Hermes. He also groomed his three son- in –law, Robert Dumes, Jean –Rene Guerrand, Francis Puech as a business partner. In 1924 Hermes expands his business outside the Paris two shops as well as in the United States. In 1929 the first women’s fashion apparel collection in Paris. In 1930 Hermes employed Swiss watchmaker Universal Geneve as the brand it was the first exclusive designer of timepieces, the manufacturing men’s wristwatch with chronographs in 18K gold or stainless steel and women’s art Dew Cuff watches in 18K gold, steel, and Platinum. Hermes iconic bags such as the Kelly bag which become popular due to Grace Kelly during1956. During this time life magazine feature a photograph of Grace Kelly, who had become the new princess of Monaco where she was carrying the “sac a depeches” bag. She held it in front of herself to disguise her pregnancy. Emile – Maurice summarized the Hermes philosophy during his leadership as “leather sport and a tradition of refined elegance”. After Emile- Maurice's death Robert Dumes Hermes becomes the successor of the Hermes brand. He collaborates with his brother in law Jean-Rene Guerrand.
Challenges
Hermes began to show the decline in their market. Like the competition, Jean-Louis Dumes become chairman in 1978 who is the son of Robert-Dumes- Hermes. He started to focus on the area of silk and leather goods, ready to wear. Since 1980, tableware has become a strong segment of the company. In 1946, the brand introduced various kinds of men\’s silk neckties. In 1952 the company has started producing perfume for both women and men as well as unisex. In 2015, Hermes associated with Apple INC to produce the Apple Watch Hermes. In 2008 they launch the Hermes foundation where the chaired by Pierre-Alexis Dumas, the art director of Hermes, and directed by Catherine Tsekeins. The main goal of this foundation is to sponsor or support the creation and craftsmanship activities. They have certainly come a long way in the last two decades and today.
Achievements
- 1922 - The first leather handbags are introduced after Emile-Maurice’s wife complains of not being able to find one to her liking. The bag is a smaller version of the ‘Haut a Courroies’ and is designed by Emile-Maurice personally.
- 1918 - Hermes introduce the first leather golf jacket with a zipper, crafted for Edward, Prince of Wales. Due to their exclusive rights agreement, the zipper becomes known throughout France as the ‘fermeture Hermes’, or the ‘Hermes fastener’.
CEOs
- Axel Dumas
- CAROLE WALKER