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The famous fashion house was founded in 1837 by German-born French-raised Thierry Herm\u00e8s.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Herm\u00e8s began as a small harness workshop in Paris, which was dedicated to serving European noblemen, creating luxury harnesses and bridles for horse-drawn carriages. The Herm\u00e8s logo is a royal carriage and a horse.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Thierry Herm\u00e8s\u2019 son, Charles-\u00c9mile Herm\u00e8s, took over the management of the business and moved the shop in 1880 to 24 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honor\u00e9 \u2013 where its flagship boutique still remains today.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Under new leadership and with fresh premises, Herm\u00e8s introduced saddle manufacturing for the first time and began retail sales.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n With the help of his sons Adolphe and \u00c9mile-Maurice, Charles-\u00c9mile grew the business global reach catering to Europe\u2019s elite, with customers as far afield as North Africa, Russia, Asia and America. Then in 1900 the firm introduced the Haut \u00e0 Courroies handbag, which was specially designed for riders to carry their saddles with them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Once Charles-\u00c9mile retired, the two sons renamed the business Herm\u00e8s Fr\u00e8res and by 1914 had employed 80 saddle craftsmen due to huge demand, particularly from officials in Russia. The duo began using zips on their leather goods and were the first to introduce the device in France.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In the 1920s \u00c9mile-Maurice launched the firm\u2019s first accessories collection and in 1922 the brand\u2019s debut leather handbag was produced after his wife complained that she could not find a suitable one to her liking.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n A decade later, the luxury label launched its Sac \u00e0 d\u00e9p\u00eaches bag (later renamed the Kelly) and in 1937 introduced its signature headscarves for the first time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In 1949, the same year as the launch of the Herm\u00e8s silk tie, the first perfume, Eau d’Herm\u00e8s, was produced.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Jean-Louis Dumas (great-great-grandson of Thierry Herm\u00e8s) took over as the new head of the company in 1951.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n After a commercial lull in the \u201870s, Dumas then concentrated on silk and leather goods, as well as revamped ready-to-wear, and the company\u2019s fortunes began to turn after he modernised the business.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Dumas had nerve and put faith in new designers, hiring the unconventional Martin Margiela as creative director in 1997, and Jean-Paul Gaultier to replace him in 2003. The company was valued at \u00a39.2billion at the time of his death in 2010.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Herm\u00e8s kicked off the craze for naming handbag styles after celebrities. In 1956 a picture of Grace Kelly showed the silver screen icon using her Herm\u00e8s Sac \u00e0 d\u00e9p\u00eaches bag to shield herself from a scrum of paparazzi photographers and so the style was renamed the Kelly.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Note that each Kelly bag, like most Herm\u00e8s designs, takes from 12 up to 18 hours to make.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n But by far the most famous, and most collected design, is the Birkin, named after the British singer Jane. After a chance encounter on a plane with Dumas in the early \u201880s, the actress told him how her Kelly bag wasn\u2019t big enough for everyday use, so they dreamt up a new design together and the Birkin was born.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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