[3] In 1837, Hermès first established a harness workshop in the Grands Boulevards quarter of Paris, dedicated to serving European noblemen.

[4][5] He created high-quality wrought harnesses and bridles for the carriage trade,[6] winning several awards including the first prize in its class in 1855, and again in 1867, at the Expositions Universelles in Paris.

[6][7] Hermès's son, Charles-Émile,[3] took over management from his father in 1880, and moved the shop to 24 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, where it remains.

Subsequently, Émile-Maurice was granted the exclusive rights to use the zipper for leather goods and clothing, becoming the first to introduce the device in France.

[4] The 1930s also witnessed Hermès's entry into the United States market by offering products in a Neiman Marcus department store in New York; however, it later withdrew.

From the mid-1930s, Hermès employed Swiss watchmaker Universal Genève as the brand's first and exclusive designer of timepieces, producing a line of men's wrist chronographs[9] (manufactured in 18K gold or stainless steel) and women's Art Déco cuff watches in 18K gold, steel, or platinum.

"[4] In 1956, Life magazine featured a photograph of Grace Kelly, who had become the new Princess of Monaco, carrying the "Sac à dépêches" bag.

The perfume business became a subsidiary in 1961, concurrently with the introduction of the "Calèche" scent, named after a hooded four-wheeled horse carriage, known since the 18th century, and is also the company's logo since the 1950s.

In 2004, Jean-Claude Ellena became the in-house perfumer or "nose" and has created several successful scents, including the Hermessence line of fragrances.

[3] Despite apparent success in the 1970s, exemplified by multiple stores having been established worldwide, including one in The Peninsula Hong Kong in 1975, Hermès declined relative to its competitors, industry observers attributed this decline to Hermès' insistence on exclusively using natural materials for its products, a differentiation from competitors that were using new, synthetic materials.

[citation needed] Jean-Louis Dumas, the son of Robert Dumas-Hermès, traveled extensively,[3] studying in the buyer-training program at Bloomingdale's, the New York department store, and joined the family firm in 1964.

He became chairman of Hermès in 1978 and concentrated the firm on silk, leather goods, and ready-to-wear, augmenting traditional techniques with new product lines.

[5] Dumas brought in designers Eric Bergère and Bernard Sanz to revamp the apparel collection and, in collaboration, added unusual entries.

As one fashion-sector observer noted: "Much of what bears the still-discreet Hermès label changed from the object of an old person's nostalgia to the subject of young peoples' dreams.

Then, throughout the 1980s, Dumas strengthened the company's hold on its suppliers,[5] resulting in Hermès's gaining great stakes in prominent French glassware, silverware acquiring venerable tableware manufacturers such as Puiforcat, Saint-Louis, and Périgord.

[5] Dumas told Forbes magazine that the equity sale would help lessen family tensions by allowing some members to liquidate their holdings without "squabbling over share valuations among themselves.

Having around FFr 500 million to invest, Hermès pressed ahead, targeting China for company-operated boutiques, finally opening a store in The Peninsula Beijing in 1997.

By the late 1990s, Hermès continued extensively to diminish the number of franchised stores, buying them up and opening more company-operated boutiques.

[5] In the latter part of the 1900s, the company encouraged its clientele to faites nous rêver (make us dream), producing throughout the period artistically atypical orders.

In 2003, Martin Margiela left Hermès, and hired Jean Paul Gaultier as the head designer, debuted his first ready-to-wear collection for fall/winter 2004–05.

[18] Following a landmark jury verdict, in February 2023, a New York court ordered artist Mason Rothschild to pay $133,000 in damages to Hermès, for infringing its copyright in his 2021 digital depictions of the Birkin bag in NFTs.

[23][24] With €2.765 billion in sales during this period, Hermès outpaced analysts' forecasts despite concerns over the war in Ukraine and repeated lockdowns in China.

[31][32][33] Also in 2023, the company won a copyright lawsuit against American artist Mason Rothschild, who replicated and sold the Birkin bag as an NFT collection.

[38] Analysts suggest this resilience is due to Hermès impeccable brand image, storytelling, and positioning, as well as citing the broader consumer interest in "quiet luxury".

[39] The designers throughout the company's history have included Lola Prusac, Jacques Delahaye, Catherine de Karolyi, Monsieur Levaillant, Nicole de Vesian, Eric Bergère, Claude Brouet, Tan Giudicelli, Marc Audibet, Mariot Chane, Bernard Sanz, Martin Margiela, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Christophe Lemaire, Véronique Nichanian (the men's-wear designer since 1988), and Nadège Vanhee-Cybulski (since 2014 succeeding Lemaire).

Indeed, Hermès claims most items are fabricated from beginning to end by only one person, which is supposed to guarantee the quality and uniqueness of its products.

[48] The evelyne boasts a perforated "H" motif that is meant to be hidden and worn towards the body, to allow easy access to the top of the bag.

In 2014, the three winners who shared the first prize, chaired by Italian architect Michele De Lucchi, were Johan Brunel and Samuel Misslen for their "Ventilated Capsule," Antoine Lesur and Marc Venot for "Hut," and Paul Tubiana for "Leon.

[60] The Foundation operates several contemporary art spaces,[61] including La Verrière in Brussels, Belgium,[62][63] Le Forum in Tokyo, Japan,[64] and Atelier Hermès in Seoul, South Korea.

Some industry insiders have been in doubt, such as René Weber, an analyst at Zürich's Vontobel Investment Banking, who has claimed: "Arnault is not afraid of a fight and a lot of his battles have been successful for him and his shareholders.