"Duc attelé, groom à l'attente", Alfred de Dreux (1810-1860)- Emile Hermès Collection
© Guy Lucas de Peslouan
Portrait of Thierry Hermès (1801-1878), founder of Hermès
© Santiago et Rottier
Hermès at 24 Faubourg Saint-Honoré in 1880
© All rights reserved
During the interwar period, lifestyles changed and the house broke new ground under the management of Émile Hermès, son of Charles-Émile. Hermès offered items that met society’s needs, from saddlery and harnesses to leather goods. Émile Hermès had been inspired by a very simple idea that decisively changed the course of the family business. During a trip to Canada, he was fascinated by the American “close-all” opening and closing system on the hood of a military car. In 1922, he obtained the exclusive rights to this system, known today as the zip or zipper; and it came to be used on many of the house’s bags.
Throughout his life, Émile Hermès was an avid collector of works of art, books, objects and curiosities. The collection is constantly enriched by his successors and continues to be a source of inexhaustible inspiration for the house’s creations.
Émile Hermès with his four daughters
© Julie Hermès
Émile Hermès was not only attached to his roots, but passionate about his era. Under his leadership, the house opened up to new métiers. In 1925, the first men’s ready-to-wear garment, a golf jacket, was created. To complement their customers’ looks, Hermès quickly introduced jewellery in 1927, followed by watches and sandals in 1928.
Advertisement for golf equipment, 1929
© Draeger
With Jeu des omnibus et dames blanches, the famous silk scarf was born, the first of a long series created by Robert Dumas, Émile Hermès’ son-in-law.
Advertisement for ties, 1962
© Draeger
As the father of four daughters, Émile Hermès passed the torch to his sons-in-law. One of them, Robert Dumas, took over from his father-in-law as head of the business in 1951. He was responsible for many of the house’s major successes, including the first silk scarf, the Kelly bag and the Chaîne d’ancre bracelet, which he was inspired to create while observing boats moored in Normandy.
Robert Dumas on the roof terrace of 24 Faubourg Saint-Honoré, 1975
© Eva Rokos
Designed by Robert Dumas in the 1930s, the history of this handbag took an unexpected turn in 1956 when a photograph of Grace Kelly carrying the bag was published around the world. It was the start of a success story, and the house named the bag Kelly in honour of the princess.
© Elisa Valenzuela
At the beginning of the 1960s, Leïla Menchari, a graduate of the Beaux-Arts of Tunis and Paris, joined Annie Beaumel in designing the window displays of the Faubourg Saint-Honoré store. From 1978 onwards, Leïla Menchari pursued this bold and flamboyant creative work on her own until 2013, when Antoine Platteau, set designer and scenographer for theatre and cinema, took over the transformation of these window displays into little theatres of elegance.
Window display at Faubourg Saint-Honoré created by Leila Menchari, autumn 2011
© Guillaume de Laubier
In 1967, the French stylist of Hungarian origin, Catherine Karolyi, was entrusted with the women’s wardrobe. Until 1980, she designed the collections of clothing and accessories, including the famous H buckle.
© Jean-Louis Feith
More of a journal than a magazine, this publication was created in 1973 in Germany under the name Die Welt von Hermès, with Le Monde d’Hermès emerging in France two years later. Now translated into more than ten languages, Le Monde d’Hermès is distributed throughout the world.
From 1978 onwards, Robert Dumas’ son, Jean-Louis, gradually revolutionised the house of Hermès. A visionary, curious about all things and all cultures, he diversified and projected the house onto the world map. Hermès embraced new métiers founded on unique know-how, such as watchmaking in 1978 – which operated under the name La Montre Hermès. In 1976, Hermès opened up to the art of shoe manufacturing with the bootmaker John Lobb; followed by the integration of Puiforcat silversmiths in 1993 and the Saint-Louis crystalworks in 1995.
© Sacha van Dorssen
The Birkin bag was the outcome of a chance encounter between Jean-Louis Dumas and the actress and singer Jane Birkin on a Paris to London flight which led to Jean-Louis Dumas designing her ideal bag. Elegant and voluminous, for evening or daytime – the Birkin bag was born.
© Elisa Valenzuela
A memorable fireworks display over the Pont-Neuf bridge in Paris marked the 150th anniversary of Hermès. This celebration launched the first annual theme in a tradition that has been perpetuated ever since to nourish all forms of creativity with a shared source of inspiration.
“Feux d'artifices” scarf in silk twill designed by Michel Duchêne for the 150th anniversary of Hermès
The leather workshops moved from the first floor of 24 rue Faubourg Saint-Honoré to Pantin, just outside Paris. The architecture of the new site offered a bright and spacious workspace for the artisans. The site was extended in 2013 with the Cité des métiers, a major project encompassing several buildings linked by five themed gardens. Led by the architects RDAI, the operation received the Prix de l’Équerre silver award in 2014.
© Alfredo Piola
With Jean-Louis Dumas still at the helm, Hermès developed across the world with the opening of numerous stores, each of which ingeniously combined the saddler’s identity with local culture. Among these international stores, several Maisons Hermès were inaugurated: on Madison Avenue in New York (USA) in 2000, in a building made of glass bricks designed by Renzo Piano in Ginza, Tokyo (Japan) in 2001, and in Dosan Park, Seoul (Korea) in 2006. Hermès also launched an e-commerce website in the United States in 2002, then another in France three years later.
©Dolorès Marat
Sixth generation family member, Pierre-Alexis Dumas, son of Jean-Louis, was appointed artistic director of Hermès. Creativity became ever more abundant within the different métiers, bringing innovation and imagination together. The house expanded its range of know-how, complementing its jewellery product offer with a first Haute Bijouterie collection in 2010. The following year, the home universe launched home furnishing fabrics and wallpapers for the first time. Hermès Horizons designed unique and bespoke objects, while the Apple Watch Hermès bore witness to a bold and innovative partnership with Apple, initiated in 2015.
© Marianne Rosenstiehl
At the request of Jean-Louis Dumas, the continued development of the business was undertaken by Patrick Thomas, his former right-hand man and Managing Director of the group from 2003 to 2006. He decentralised the strategic organisation of the métiers and reorganised Hermès’ presence across the world into geographical regions. Patrick Thomas also ensured the transition between the two generations, until the appointment of Axel Dumas, nephew of Jean-Louis Dumas, as Executive Chairman in 2013.
© Studio des fleurs
At the initiative of Pierre-Alexis Dumas, the house added a new dimension to its patronage policy and philanthropic commitment with the launch of the Fondation d’entreprise Hermès. In keeping with the artisanal and humanist values of the family company, the foundation works mainly in the fields of creation, the transmission of know-how, the preservation of the planet and solidarity through its own support programmes, both in France and abroad. Though diverse, the activity of the Foundation is motivated a single conviction: what we do creates who we are.
The petit h workshop was created under the leadership of Pascale Mussard, niece of Jean-Louis Dumas, and adopts a unique approach within the house, that of creation in reverse. Starting with unused materials from Hermès manufactures, artisans and designers give free rein to their inventiveness to create unique and unexpected objects, building on the exceptional know-how of the house.
Appointed Executive Chairman in 2013, Axel Dumas, nephew of Jean-Louis Dumas, has strengthened the dynamic growth of the group with the inauguration of the fifth Maison Hermès in Shanghai in 2014 and the opening of many stores worldwide. In 2019, Hermès arrived in Poland, establishing its first store in Warsaw. Axel Dumas has also driven the implementation of the group’s digital strategy, which culminated in the redesign of the hermes.com website in 2017. He has taken Hermès into the new technological era, in keeping with the expectations of customers who are becoming more and more connected. Under his leadership, the group is stepping up the omnichannel dynamic within the organisation.
© Agence World Red Eye Photography
This decision, made by the Conseil Scientifique des Indices (Scientific Advisory Board) and announced by Euronext, endorses the company’s industrial and stock market achievements and attests to the solidity of the entrepreneurial spirit that has become its artisanal growth model. Hermès continues to assert its independence thanks to a family-based shareholding structure committed to retaining most of its production in France and perpetuating its know-how to serve creativity.
The artilleryman on the roof terrace of 24 Faubourg Saint-Honoré
© Quentin Bertoux
Hermès presented its sixteenth métier, Beauty, with the first collection, Rouge Hermès, dedicated to the beauty of the lips. The result of five years of design, research and development, in the spirit of excellence and integrating the know-how that characterises the house, Hermès Beauty combines high standards, durability and aesthetics.
© Jack Davison
The Ecole Hermès des Savoir-Faire
Hermès opened its 19th leather workshop, located in Guyenne (Gironde), and created the École Hermès des Savoir-Faire apprenticeship training school (CFA). The school provides professional training sanctioned by a national diploma in leatherwork (CAP Maroquinerie).
© J. Leon
A new Maison Hermès opens in Madison
Hermès has opened a new Maison Hermès at 706 Madison Avenue in New York’s Upper East Side, and is pursuing its long-term development strategy based on a sustainable artisanal model. This store puts service at the heart of its priorities. Welcoming and vibrant, it embodies the house’s creative spirit through Hermès’ 16 métiers and a selection of artwork conceived by both established and emerging artists.
© Kevin Scott
