Hermès

Hermès International S.A., Hermes of Paris, or simply Hermès is a French high fashion luxury goods manufacturer established in 1837, today specializing in leather, lifestyle accessories, home furnishings, perfumery, jewellery, watches and ready-to-wear. Its logo, since the 1950s, is of a Duc carriage with horse. Nadège Vanhee-Cybulski is the creative director. History- Beginnings in the 19th century: Thierry Hermès (1801–1878) was born in Krefeld (Germany) to a French father and a German mother. The family moved to France in 1828. In 1837, Thierry Hermès first established Hermès as a harness workshop in the Grands Boulevards quarter of Paris, dedicated to serving European noblemen. He created high-quality wrought harnesses and bridles for the carriage trade, winning several awards including the first prize in its class in 1855 and again in 1867 at the Expositions Universelles in Paris. Hermès's son, Charles-Émile Hermès, took over management from his father and moved the shop in 1880 to 24 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré where it remains to this day. With the help of his sons Adolphe and Émile-Maurice, Charles-Émile introduced saddlery and started selling his products retail. The company catered to the élite of Europe, North Africa, Russia, Asia, and the Americas. In 1900, the firm offered the Haut à Courroies bag, specially designed for riders to carry their saddles with them. Hermès Frères era: After Charles-Émile Hermès's retirement, sons Adolphe and Émile-Maurice took leadership and renamed the company Hermès Frères. Shortly after, Émile-Maurice began furnishing the czar of Russia with saddles. By 1914, up to 80 saddle craftsmen were employed. Subsequently, Émile-Maurice was granted the exclusive rights to use the zipper for leather goods and clothing, becoming the first to introduce the device in France. In 1918, Hermès introduced the first leather golf jacket with a zipper, made for Edward, Prince of Wales. Because of its exclusive rights arrangement the zipper became known in France as the fermeture Hermès (Hermès fastener). Throughout the 1920s when he was the sole head of the firm, Émile-Maurice added an accessory collection and a clothing collection. He also groomed his three sons-in-law (Robert Dumas, Jean-René Guerrand and Francis Puech) as business partners. In 1922, the first leather handbags were introduced after Émile-Maurice's wife complained of not being able to find one to her liking. Émile-Maurice created the handbag collection himself. In 1924, Hermès established a presence in the United States and opened two shops in French resorts. In 1929, the first women's couture apparel collection was previewed in Paris. During the 1930s Hermès introduced some of its most recognized original goods such as the leather Sac à dépêches in 1935 (later renamed the "Kelly bag" after Grace Kelly), and the Hermès carrés (scarves) in 1937. The Hermès scarves became integrated into French culture. In 1938, the Chaîne d'ancre bracelet and the riding jacket and outfit joined the classic collection. By this point, the company's designers began to draw inspirations from paintings, books, and objets d'art. The 1930s also witnessed Hermès's entrance into the United States market by offering its products in a Neiman Marcus department store in New York; however, it later withdrew. In 1949, the same year as the launch of the Hermès silk tie, the first perfume, Eau d'Hermès, was produced. Starting in the mid-1930s, Hermès employed Swiss watchmaker Universal Genève as the brand's first and exclusive designer of timepieces, producing a line of men's wrist chronographs (manufactured in 18K gold or stainless steel) and women's art deco cuff watches (in 18K gold, steel or platinum). Both models contained dials signed either as "Hermès" or "Hermès Universal Genève", while the watch movements were signed "Universal Genève S.A.". The Hermès/Universal partnership would last 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-Hermès (1898–1978), who succeeded Émile-Maurice after his death in 1951, closely collaborated with brother-in-law Jean-René Guerrand. Dumas became the first man not directly descended from Hermès père to lead the company because his connection to the family was only through marriage. Thus, he incorporated the Hermès last name into his own, Dumas-Hermès.The company also acquired its duc-carriage-with-horse logo and signature orange boxes in the early 1950s. Dumas introduced original handbags, jewelry, and accessories and was particularly interested in design possibilities with the silk scarves. Ironically, during the mid-20th century, scarf production diminished. World Tempus, a Web portal dedicated to watchmaking, states: "Brought to life by the magic wand of Annie Beaumel, the windows of the store on Faubourg Saint-Honoré became a theatre of enchantment and established the store as a Parisian meeting-place for international celebrities." In 1956, a photo of Grace Kelly, who had become the new Princess of Monaco, was shown carrying the Sac à dépêches bag in a photography in Life. Purportedly, she held it in front of herself to cover up her pregnancy. Thus, the public began calling it the "Kelly" bag. The name was subsequently adopted by Hermès, and the bag became hugely popular. The perfume business became a subsidiary in 1961, concurrently with the introduction of the Calèche scent, named after a hooded four-wheeled horse carriage, known since the 18th century – the Company's logo since fifties. (In 2004, Jean-Claude Ellena became the in-house perfumer or "nose" and created the successful Hermessence line of fragrances as well as others.) The rise and fall and rise of Hermès: Despite the company's apparent success in the 1970s, exemplified by multiple shops being established worldwide, Hermès began to decline, compared to competitors. Some industry observers have assigned the cause to Hermès's insistence on the exclusive use of natural materials for its products, unlike other companies that were calling on new man-made materials. During a two-week lapse in orders, the Hermès workrooms were silent. The renewed success of Hermes fragrances' endeavors in the marketplace was probably due to the public's increasing paradigm shift of back to things 'natural,' as opposed to artificial, a point that undoubtedly contributed to reestablishing Hermes fragrances as a major player in the fragrances marketplace. Jean-Louis Dumas, the son of Robert Dumas-Hermès, became chairman in 1978 and had the firm concentrate on silk and leather goods and ready-to-wear, adding new product groups to those made with its traditional techniques. Unlike his father, Jean-Louis was related to the Hermès family maternally. Travelling extensively and marrying Rena Greforiadès, he entered the buyer-training program at Bloomingdale's, the New York department store. Having joined the family firm in 1964, he was instrumental in turning around its downhill progression. Dumas brought in designers Eric Bergère and Bernard Sanz to revamp the apparel collection and, in collaboration, added unusual entries. They included the python motorcycle jackets and ostrich-skin jeans, which were dubbed as "a snazzier version of what Hermès has been all along." (Annual sales in 1978, when Jean-Louis became head of the firm, were reported at US$50 million. By 1990, annual sales were reported at US$460 million, mainly due to Dumas's strategy.) In 1979, Jean-Louis launched an advertising campaign featuring a young, denim-clad woman wearing an Hermès scarf. The purpose was to introduce the Hermès brand to a new set of consumers. As one fashion-sector observer noted, "Much of what bears the still-discreet Hermès label changed from the object of an old person's nostalgia to the subject of young peoples' dreams." However, Dumas's change-of-image gesture created outrage both within and outside of the firm. Also in the 1970s, the watch subsidiary, La Montre Hermès, was established in Bienne, Switzerland. Then, throughout the 1980s, Dumas strengthened the company's hold on its suppliers, resulting in Hermès's gaining great stakes in prominent French glassware, silverware acquiring venerable tableware manufacturers such as Puiforcat, St. Louis, and Périgord. Growth: From the 1980s, tableware became a strong segment of the firm. And, overall, the collection of Hermès goods expanded in 1990 to include over 30,000 pieces. New materials used in the collection included porcelain and crystal. Hermès relocated its workshops and design studios to Pantin, just outside Paris. By June 1993 and possibly a grave mistake, Hermès had gone public on the Paris Bourse (stock exchange). At the time, the equity sale generated great excitement. The 425,000 shares floated at FFr 300 (US$55 at the time) were oversubscribed by 34 times. Dumas told Forbes magazine that the equity sale would help lessen family tensions by allowing some members to liquidate their holdings without "squabbling over share valuations among themselves." To this point in time, the Hermès family was still retaining a strong hold of about 80% in stocks, placing Jean-Louis Dumas and the entire family on the Forbes list of billionaires. Mimi Tompkins of U.S. News & World Report called the company "one of Paris' best guarded jewels." In the years to follow, Dumas began to decrease Hermès franchises from 250 to 200 and increased company-owned stores from 60 to 100 to better control sales of its products. The plan was to cost about FFr 200 million in the short term but was to increase profits in the long term. Having around FFr 500 million to invest, Hermès pressed ahead, targeting China for company-operated boutiques, finally opening a store in Beijing in 1996. In 1997, Jean-Louis hired Belgian modernist designer Martin Margiela to supervise women's ready-to-wear. By the late 1990s, Hermès continued extensively 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. In the latter part of the 1900s, the company encouraged its clientele to faites nous rêver (make us dream), producing throughout the period artistically atypical orders. The 2000s to today: In 2000, the first John Lobb footwear store was opened in. In 2003, iconoclastic Margiela left Hermès, and the highly controversial Jean-Paul Gaultier, as the head designer, debuted his first ready-to-wear collection for fall/winter 2004–05. After 28 years as head of the firm, Jean-Louis Robert Guillame Frédéric Dumas-Hermès retired from the firm in January 2006. Known for his charm and one of Europe's greatest experts on luxury, he died in 2010 after a long illness. Patrick Thomas, who had joined the company in 1989 and who had worked with Jean-as the co-CEO from 2005, replaced him that month. Thomas became the first non-Hermès to head the company. Jean-Louis's son Pierre-Alexis Dumas is the artistic director. Designers: The designers throughout the company's history have included Lola Prusac, Jacques Delahaye, Catherine de Karolyi, Monsieur Levaillant, Nicole de Vesian, Eric Bergère, Claude Brouet, Tan Giudicelli, Marc Audibet, Mariot Chane, Martin Margiela, Jean Paul Gaultier, Christophe Lemaire, Véronique Nichanian (current menswear designer), Nadège Vanhee-Cybulski. Goods and products: Known for luxury goods, As of 2008, Hermès has 14 product divisions encompassing leather, scarves, ties, men's wear, women's fashion, perfume, watches, stationery, footwear, gloves, enamel, decorative arts, tableware, and jewellery. Hermès sales are composed of about 30% leather goods, 15% clothes, 12% scarves, and 43% other wares. The company licenses no products and keeps tight control over the design and manufacture of its vast inventory. The family company is very attached to its old-fashioned business model and rejects mass production, assembly lines, and mechanization. Hermès goods are almost entirely made in France by hand in middle-sized workshops ("Ateliers Hermès") with an emphasis on quality manufacturing. Indeed, Hermès claims most items are fabricated from beginning to end by one person only, which is supposed to be a guarantee of the quality and uniqueness of Hermès products. In 2012, Hermès retail outlets changed its policy regarding returns and exchanges of products. Consumers may only exchange items within ten days of purchase, and only for another color variant of the original purchase. No other post-purchase exchanges are permitted and refunds are never offered, regardless of the consumer having a receipt. The Hermès Foundation: The Hermès Foundation was launched in 2008. It is chaired by Pierre-Alexis Dumas, artistic director of Hermes, and directed by Catherine Tsekenis. The Foundation embodies the will of the group to gather sponsorship activities by engaging in supporting creation and craftsmanship. In 2010, It launched the Emile Hermès Prize which rewards every two years an innovative project in the field of design. In 2014, three winners shared the first prize chaired by Italian architect Michele De Lucchi: Johan Brunel and Samuel Misslen for their ‘’Ventilated Capsule’’ ; Antoine Lesur and Marc Venot for ‘’Hut’’ and finally Paul Tubiana for ‘’Leon’’. 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 Palace of Tokyo. In January 2014, the Hermès Foundation has pledged support, for a period of three years, to the Cité internationale of Aubusson tapestry. Shareholder structure: At 31 December 2010, the Hermès family collectively owned a 62.79% stake in Hermès International S.A. through a number of individual and company holdings; the stake entitled the family to 73.96% of voting rights in the company. The luxury goods conglomerate LVMH held 20.21% of shares (amassed in the latter half of 2010) and 13.08% of votes at the same date, with 0.39% of shares held as treasury stock and the remaining 16.61% free float. Speculation that LVMH will launch a takeover bid for Hermès has been repeatedly denied by its chairman Bernard Arnault. Some industry insiders are in doubt, such as René Weber, an analyst at Zürich's Bank Vontobel, who has claimed: "Arnault is not afraid of a fight and a lot of his battles have been successful for him and his shareholders. Whether he can eventually succeed with a takeover of Hermès is still an open question." Bertrand Puech, who chairs the main Hermès family holding company, has criticised LVMH's acquisition of Hermès shares and called on the company to reduce its stake by half.