The story of the French fashion house Hermès begins not in the glamorous world of couture, but in the traditional saddlery trade. In 1837, Thierry Hermès founded a workshop in Paris specializing in the production of high-quality horse harnesses and bridles for European nobility. This connection to equestrian culture continues to shape the brand's aesthetic to this day.
With the advent of the automobile, the Hermès family, who still run the company in its sixth generation, carefully expanded its product range. From the 1920s onward, the first **handbags** were created, crafted by the finest leather goods artisans. Two of these creations later achieved worldwide fame: The 1930s travel bag became known as the **Kelly Bag** by chance in the 1950s when Grace Kelly used it as a shield against paparazzi. Then, in the 1980s, following a meeting between the then-CEO Jean-Louis Dumas and the actress Jane Birkin, the legendary **Birkin Bag** was born.
Hermès consciously cultivates the principle of **„quiet luxury“**: Instead of loud trends, the house focuses on timeless elegance, the highest craftsmanship and extreme **scarcity**, which means that the famous bags cannot simply be bought in stores, but require long waiting lists and special customer relationships.
Despite its stock market listing in 1993, the Hermès family vehemently defends its independence. In a much-publicized "handbag war" in the early 2010s, it successfully fended off an attempt by the luxury conglomerate LVMH to gain control of the company. This uncompromising strategy regarding quality, craftsmanship, and limited production has made Hermès not only one of the world's most profitable and valuable luxury brands, but also a sound investment, as the value of its iconic bags often rises more steadily and significantly than that of gold.
