Family Tradition

By: Polly Guèrin

July 2007

We never forget that the horse was our first customer,” says Robert B. Chavez, president and

THEN: “Jeu des Omnibus et Dames blanches,” 1937, the first silk scarf.

CEO of Hermès, U.S.A. One need only look at its equine icon to recall that this global purveyor of luxury goods started in 1837 as a maker of saddles. (The horse-and-carriage logo was inspired by a 19th-century lithograph by Alfred de Dreux.)

Although Hermès has achieved international status since its beginnings, it has never lost its rich tradition of craftsmanship and creativity. The company was founded when Thierry Hermès (1801–78) set up a harness and saddle workshop in the Paris neighborhood known as the Grands Boulevards. Although the company went public in 1993, 80 percent of the shares are still controlled by family members. Charles-Emile Hermès (1831–1916) succeeded his father and in 1880 transferred the business to its now-famous address: 24, rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, in closer proximity to a wealthy clientele whose luxurious carriage teams frequented the Champs-Élysées. Soon he was providing aristocratic stables all over the world with saddles and harnesses. His two sons, Adolphe and Emile-Maurice, meanwhile built up an elite clientele in Europe, North Africa, Russia, the Americas and Asia.

As the 20th century got underway, Emile-Maurice, perceiving that demand for saddlery was bound to dwindle, directed Hermès to turn its leatherworking expertise to the making of “saddle stitched” leather goods and trunks for the growing number of customers traveling by car, train, ship and eventually airplanes. The company expanded its label into gloves, belts and men’s and women’s sportswear. Today Hermès’ flagship products are leather handbags, clutches, briefcases and luggage, crafted by more than 1,000 saddlery and leather goods craftsmen in its production facility in Pantin, outside of Paris.

The company had its share of innovations. Emile-Maurice discovered the zipper in Canada and

NOW: “Mythologies des Hommes Rouges,” 1999, silk scarf.

introduced it in France in 1923 as an exclusive Hermès product. The silk used for jockeys’ blouses gave rise to the first silk scarf, “Jeu des Omnibus et Dames blanches,” which debuted in 1937. The design was inspired by a parlor game similar to the “Game of Goose” from the 19th century, with the “Dames blanches” in the center of the scarf surrounded by two circles of the first horse-drawn buses. Today the silk twill scarf is a mainstay of the product line.

Every year, approximately 20 new designs are added to the collection, and earlier models are frequently reinterpreted in fresh styles and colors. Each scarf is crafted using a multi-step process that can require up to 800 hours of engraving and thousands of colors in a single scarf. Since 1987 Hermès conceived an annual theme for each calendar year: The highly collectible, limited-edition silk scarves include “Year of the River” (2005), a river theme of blues and greens; “Paris in the Air” (2006), a celebration of Paris that included a historical map; and “Shall We Dance…?” (2007).

Passionately interested in anything equine, Emile-Maurice attended sales at the Paris auction house Drouot and eventually acquired a collection of exceptional pieces that serve as inspiration for Hermès’ craftsmen and designers: antique saddles, rare paintings (such as an equestrian portrait of Louis XIV, one of seven replicas ordered by the king for his foreign ambassadors), 16th- to 18th-century equestrian books, toys and objets d’art. Today the collection is located in the Faubourg flagship store. The company’s jewelry designers are inspired by antique spurs, bits, harnesses and jewel-like miniature carriages. According to Hermès’ 2005 annual report, the best-seller in the jewelry collection was the Looping bracelet, a model inspired by the “saddle tack” motif available with interchangeable bracelets. Menehould de Bazelaire, the curator of the Hermès private collection, says, “It is still being added to with exceptional finds brought in by members of the Hermès family.”During the 1930s the house launched several items that became classics, including the large

THEN: “Kelly” handbag, c. 1930, crocodile, named after Grace Kelly.

crocodile handbag known later as the Kelly, named for Grace Kelly. Another classic, the Birkin, was designed by Jean-Louis Dumas in 1984 and named for actress Jane Birkin who replaced her old straw purse with a leather Hermès example. Both the Kelly and the Birkin are periodically refashioned and produced in a variety of materials. The Kelly bag, for example, comes in soft leather, backpack and sporty versions. In 2007 Jean-Paul Gaultier introduced a soft leather Kelly that folds down to a clutch.

In the 1950s Robert Dumas-Hermès (1898–1978) and Jean-René Guerrand- Hermès (1901–1993), Emile Hermès’ sons-in-law spearheaded the old-guard family business. They took charge of the company and pursued its diversification and expansion. Robert Dumas-Hermès married the daughter of Emile-Maurice Hermès and was his active collaborator from that point on, becoming an unparalleled artist of silk scarf design. During the 1950s he worked in collaboration with his brother-in-law Jean-Rene Guerrand-Hermès on developing new products, including the men’s necktie, in 1949. The contemporary line Vibrations, introduced in 2005 and composed of eight designs in 10 identical color schemes, extends and updates the classic stirrup and bit motifs for which Hermès ties are renowned.

Jean-Louis Dumas-Hermès, son of Robert Dumas, took up the reins of management in 1978 (he stepped down in 2006) and, along with his cousins, enlivened the company with youthful enthusiasm. He launched the Hermès watch in 1979 and extended the company’s presence throughout the world, designing stores in such as way as to show respect for the local culture of the countries where they are established. In creating new scarf designs Hermès often partners with independent artists. At an art fair in Waco, Texas, Jean-Louis discovered Texas painter Kermit Oliver and commissioned him to create printed scarf designs, including “Les Mythologies des Hommes Rouges,” which reflects the spirit of the American Indians, their culture and the horse.
Special-edition scarves have commemorated many events in American life: In 1986, the centennial

NOW: “Kelly Flat” handbag that folds down to a clutch, spring–summer 2007, calfskin.

of the Statue of Liberty was marked by the production of a “Liberty” scarf. “Envol,” issued in 1995, celebrated the 50th anniversary of the United Nations. Le Salon Doré was issued in 1996 for the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Last year Le Salon Doré was reissued, with proceeds benefiting the rebuilding of New Orleans’ historic City Park carousel, which had been damaged by Hurricane Katrina—yet another Hermès nod to its equine roots.

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Polly Guèrin, a former adjunct assistant professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, covers antiques and decorative arts for Art & Antiques.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

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►Hermès
New York
212.751.3181

►Hermès of Paris
011.33.1.40.17.49.20

►The Museum at FIT Fashion Institute of Technology
New York
212.217.5970
The exhibition “Luxury” (through Nov. 10) covers 250 years of fashion history and includes more than 150 garments, accessories and textiles from the museum’s permanent collection, including accessories by Hermès.