Hermes
(Founded - 1837)
Thierry Hermes was born in 1801. He moved to France from Prussia in 1821. Hermes founded his company; a wholesale leather goods shop, in 1837. He sold finely wrought harnesses, bridles, and
riding boots for the carriage trade. In 1879 his son Emile-Charles Hermes acquired the flagship building at 24, rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore and expanded the business into retailing by manufacturing and selling saddles.
In the early twentieth century, Hermes developed detailed saddle stitching techniques for the production of wallets, luggage, handbags, watchbands, and accessories for golfing, hunting and polo playing, and began to design couture sportswear.
The company has remained a family-run business that has always been committed to making their products with fine materials and attention to detail for more than 160 years; it has continued to build on its reputation for superb quality. In the 1920’s Hermes designed one of the first leather garments of the twentieth century, a zippered golfing jacket, for the Prince of Wales; which made fashion news.
The fourth generation of owners were two sons-in-law, Jean-Rene Guerrand and Robert Dumas. They added scarves and perfume to the line. Jean Louis Dumas, the son of Robert Dumas, became president-director general in 1978. Jean-Rene Guerrard, died at the age of 89, on September 1993. He had remained with the company for 64 years until his retirement in 1990. He was managing director and vice chairman of the Hermes Group and chief executive officer of Hermes Perfumes. He had established the company’s worldwide division.
One of the most popular and bestselling items in the Hermes’s line is the scarf. By designing a large square of silk printed with boldly scaled figural scenes, Hermes invented a whole new type of fashion accessory, one that has maintained its popularity for more than seventy years. The company is also famous for the "Kelly Bag," which was based on a saddle bag, and was first launched in 1937. In 1955, the "Kelly Bag" was named after the actress Grace Kelly, who aws frequently seen carrying one. Since the 1980s, the names of designers associated with Hermes included Eric Bergere, Martin Margiela and Jean Paul Gaultier.
Today Hermes has more than two hundred and fifteen stores around the world, and countless boutiques in high-end department stores in Europe, Asia, and the United States.
