Five generations of men of vision, attentive to the needs and desires of customers loving the thousand and one details that make the luxury Hermes. From Paris to Brazil, Baron Haussmann, Jean-Paul Gaultier …
Workshop saddler
Thierry Hermes founded the company. Born in 1801 in Krefeld, Germany, Protestant family had to flee Germany. He died in 1878. During his life, he moved to Paris, where in 1837 he opened his first store, rue Basse du Rempart (now extinct), near the Madeleine church. It is called a harness shop and saddler who makes and sells equipment and harnesses for horses.
The intensive use of horses in the expanding capital raises the emulation of best coach builders, saddlers and harness-maker, who must excel to satisfy demanding customers, for the sake of innovation in a century of dramatic progress …
A “shaped necklaces, moving instrument retained the first workshop of Hermes, reflects the oft repeated gestures of the artisan obstinate until the exact fit of the collar at the neck of the horse. At the Exposition Universelle of 1867, Hermes received the medal of first class.
Luxury and quality
The descendants of Thierry Hermes and Emile-Maurice Adolphe, and Robert Dumas-Hermes, further developing the company by pointing it towards luxury quality with world-class products such as historical bag “Kelly “. They are betting on the growth of industry background in the development of the automobile.
While the French company saw great upheavals after the fall of the Second Empire and the rebellion of the Commune, that the art world is renewed by the light impressionistic Thierry Hermes died, leaving to his successors the passion of a profession populated by the initial impetus of the founder.
Following the transformation of Paris conducted by Baron Haussmann, the Maison Hermès in 1880 moved to 24 Faubourg Saint Honore, approximating a wealthy clientele with luxurious crews meet on the Champs-Elysees.
Early twentieth century, the Hermes handbags “Top Straps” ancestor of “Kelly” is offered to customers.
Centennial
Buying shares his brother in 1922. Emile-Maurice successfully extends the brand of the leather saddler, adding to its traditional belts, gloves, sewing, jewelry and wrist watches, necessary travel and sports and auto accessories …
The sliding system attracted a society enamored of speed. Did you know that the craftsmen of Hermes controlling system of the zipper would ask this innovation models miss Chanel?
In response to the Great Depression are born some of the most famous creations of Hermes handbag later named “Kelly” calendar, “Bag News” silver bracelet “chain anchor, the jacket and holding cavalier, all objects quickly become legendary House. The silk used for gowns jockeys gives birth to scarf, the design is launched by Hermes in 1937.
The house celebrates its centenary young. Stores born in Cannes, Biarritz and Deauville. After the Second World War, the orange box and Bolduc, and the horse-drawn carriage, Logo Hermes, become signs of recognition of a great brand. Emile-Maurice Hermès disappears in 1951.
Turning Point
Robert Dumas-Hermes in 1928 married the daughter of Emile-Maurice Hermès, which became active when the collaborator. Taking the reins in 1951, he never abandoned his creative activity, focusing particularly on the design of the square.
Eager to perform in a variety of material objects to facilitate the beauty in everyday actions, this wonderful craftsman continues its diversification into sustainable paths: the tie in 1949, then the perfume (Eau d’Hermes in 1950) developed by Jean-René Guerrand.
Thanks to the talents of Annie Beaumel, in store windows of the Faubourg become a stage magician, go Parisian celebrities: Grace Kelly, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Sammy Davis Jr., Ingrid Bergman, Jacky Kennedy … Robert Dumas-Hermes lost in 1978, leaving the house he had so loved the footprint of its uprightness.
Jean-Louis Dumas-Hermes takes the helm of the company in 1978 and infused with his cousins, the momentum of his youthful enthusiasm. It redeploys and revitalises activities silk, leather, ready-to-wear … while chaining new jobs in traditional techniques. He throws the watch Hermes in 1978 through a Swiss subsidiary wholly-owned, and the enamel and porcelain, followed by jewelry and crystal. With a clear view of the future, Jean-Louis Dumas-Hermes leads his group in a dramatic growth driven by a quest for perfection and consistency.
In 1987, Hermès celebrates 150 years and is affirmed in its singularity of industrial enterprise feeding values of its artisan trades.