Hermès International S.C.A. ( , ), using the trade name Hermès Paris or simply Hermès, is a French luxury goods company that was founded in 1837 by Thierry Hermès in Paris, France. At that time, it specialized in the saddlery and harness making trade, producing equipment for horse riders and their horses. The company then branched out into many other trades, including leather goods (which is now its core business), followed by silk, ready-to-wear, watchmaking, jewellery, fashion accessories and perfumery. In 2020, the beauty division added a sixteenth business line.
Hermès is still controlled by descendants of the founder, Thierry Hermès. The Hermès family is divided into three branches – the Dumas, Guerrand and Puech cousins – united within the H51 holding company. Except for the period from 2003 to 2013, during which Patrick Thomas was CEO, the company has always been run by a descendant of the founder. Today, it employs around 25,000 people, including 7,000 craftsmen and 15,000 employees in France, where it has 60 manufactures and production sites. In 2024, Hermès generated sales of 15.2 billion euros, with a net income of 4.6 billion euros.
History
Beginnings in the 19th century
thumb|200px|left|Thierry Hermès, founder of Hermès
Thierry Hermès was born on in Krefeld (in what is now Germany) to a French father and a German mother. He settled in 1829 in Pont-Audemer, Normandy, a town known for working hides, He designed, made and sold high-quality harnesses and other equipment for horses. He died in Neuilly-sur-Seine in 1878. (manufactured in 18K gold or stainless steel) and women's Art Déco cuff watches in 18K gold, steel, or platinum. Both models contained dials signed either "Hermès" or "Hermès Universal Genève", while the watch movements were signed "Universal Genève S.A". The Hermès/Universal partnership lasted until the 1950s.
Émile-Maurice summarized the Hermès philosophy during his leadership as "leather, sport, and a tradition of refined elegance."
Post-Émile-Maurice Hermès
Robert Dumas took over as head of Hermès on the death of his father-in-law in 1951, while closely collaborating with his brother-in-law Jean-René Guerrand.
Jean-Louis Dumas, the son of Robert Dumas-Hermès, joined the family firm in 1964. By the late 1990s, Hermès continued to diminish the number of franchised 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 pay FFr 150 million for a 35% stake in the Jean-Paul Gaultier fashion house. About 60 employees were affected across three stores. In 2024, Hermès' net profit reached €4.6 billion, with a 40.5% operating margin. Sales growth spanned all regions, totaling €15.2 billion. Hermès presented "Hermès in the Making," a traveling exhibition across France, showcasing its artisanal craftsmanship. Also in 2023, the company won a copyright lawsuit against American artist Mason Rothschild, who replicated and sold the Birkin bag as an NFT collection. In the same year, the group announced four new production sites in France: Espagnac, Loupes, Riom, and Charleville-Mézières.
In April 2025, Hermès announced plans to increase product prices in the United States starting May 1, citing new tariffs imposed by the Trump administration as the cause. The move came as the company reported €4.1 billion in revenue for Q1 2025, a 7.2% year-over-year increase that fell short of analysts' expectations. Despite the softer results, Hermès surpassed LVMH to become the world’s most valuable luxury group.
In October 2025, British designer Grace Wales Bonner was officially announced as Hermès' Creative Director of Men's Ready-to-Wear. She is set to present her first collection for the brand in January 2027.
Sectors
thumb|An Hermès soap bar bearing the logo
Hermès has sixteen product divisions that encompassed leather, scarves, ties, men's wear, women's wear, perfume, watches, stationery, footwear, gloves, enamelware, decorative arts, tableware, beauty, and jewellery. The company licenses no products and keeps tight control over the design and manufacture of its vast inventory. According to Vogue: "Jane Birkin 'is satisfied by the measures taken by Hermès', according to the brand, following an investigation by the fashion house [that refuted] claims made by PETA that its famous Birkin bags were being 'constructed from the skins of factory-farmed and cruelly slaughtered crocodiles.' "
<gallery>
File:Kelly Bag.jpg|A Kelly bag
File:Hermes Ostrich Birkin Bag.jpg|Exotic leathers of the bags make them highly valuable and noticeable, e.g., ostrich leather
File:Hermes Birkin.JPG|A Birkin bag
</gallery>
While the Kelly and Birkin are two of the house's most famous bags, Hermès has a wide range of other popular handbags. One, the bolide is a dome-shaped carry-all that comes in varying sizes with a leather shoulder strap. It is widely recognized as the first handbag that was constructed with a zipper. The bolide comes in both stiff leathers, such as Epsom, and relaxed leathers, such as Clemence. Clemence leather is sometimes referred to as Bianca leather - a particular grain that originates from France. Another popular bag from the Hermès house is the Evelyne, a comparatively affordable saddle-style bag meant to be worn cross-body with a traditional fabric strap. The evelyne is available in 4 different sizes: the TPM (16 cm), PM (29 cm), GM (33 cm)and TGM (40 cm) and is generally made in relaxed leathers like clemence. The evelyne boasts a perforated "H" motif that is meant to be hidden and worn towards the body, to allow easy access to the top of the bag. Hermès operate on a wishlist system for these items around the world as they are coveted and highly sought after.
In 2021, the Farm Transparency Project released video footage from three Australian crocodile farms owned by Hermès, which showed the small cages and concrete floors the animals live on and how they are slaughtered, including by stabbing and electrocution.
Clothing and accessories
Ready-to-wear department was born at Hermès in the 1920s-1930s, initially with sportswear, with the first menswear, a leather golf jacket, created for Duke of Windsor, Edward the VIII, in 1925. When production first began, a dedicated factory was established in Lyon, France, the same year that Hermès celebrated its 100th anniversary. Contemporary Hermès carrés measure , weigh , and are woven from the silk of 300 mulberry moth cocoons., the Galop d’Hermès (2019), designed by Ini Archibong with numerals created by type designer Vincent Sauvaire, the men's Hermès H08 line, launched in 2021.
From the 2000s onwards, Hermès acquired stakes in several watchmaking companies, as in 2006 with a 25% stake in Vaucher manufacture for 25 million Swiss francs, already a supplier of movements for the Hermès house, with an investment of around sixteen million euros.
In 2020, the group launched its sixteenth business, beauty, with a lipstick collection named Rouge Hermès and inspired by its carré de soie.
Strategy and know-how
Hermès International's profitability is the result of a "long-term strategy aimed at enhancing the know-how and creativity of its craftsmen, while maintaining a high degree of innovation". Its vocation is to support actions in favor of artistic creation and the transmission of know-how, solidarity and the preservation of biodiversity. including La Verrière in Brussels, Belgium, Le Forum in Tokyo, Japan, and Atelier Hermès in Seoul, South Korea.
The foundation also created the Émile Hermès prize in 2007, which rewards an innovative project in the field of design every two years. In 2012, the Foundation participated in the "New Settings" show for the promotion of the arts. In 2013, the Foundation supported the exhibition of works by young artists shown at the Palais de Tokyo. In January 2014, it has pledged a three-year support of the Cité internationale of Aubusson tapestry.
Other Group brands
John Lobb
John Lobb founded John Lobb Bootmaker in 1866, in London.
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|Martin Margiela
|1997
|2003
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|Jean Paul Gaultier
|2003
|2010
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|Christophe Lemaire
|2010
|2014
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|Nadège Vanhée
|2014
|present
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! colspan="4" |Menswear
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|Véronique Nichanian
|1988
|2026
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|Grace Wales Bonner
|2027
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! colspan="4" |Jewellery
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|Pierre Hardy
|2001
|present
|
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|Christine Nagel
|2014
|present
|
Bibliography
External links
- Official Foundation Enterprise Hermès website