Hermès (company)
| Hermes | |
|---|---|
| legal form | Family-owned Société en commandite par actions au capital social (SCA) |
| ISIN | FR0000052292 |
| founding | 1837 |
| Seat |
Paris , France
|
| management |
|
| Branch | Luxury goods |
| Website | www.hermes.com and www.hermes-international.com |
Hermès [ ɛʀˈmɛs ] or Hermès International SCA (Société en Commandite par Actions) is a French family company with headquarters in Paris , which has its origins in the saddlery and high- quality leather processing . The nowadays mainly of luxury - fashion items existing range , which has an international network of Hermès boutiques is offered worldwide, including 14 different product lines: leather goods, silk - and cashmere scarves, neckties , men and women ready-to-wear , perfume , Watches , shoes , gloves , stationery, enamel , jewelry , porcelain , interior decoration.
Company history
Hermès was founded in Paris in 1837 by Thierry Hermès (* 1801 in Krefeld , † 1878 in Neuilly ) and has been family-owned ever since. Thierry Hermès, whose Huguenot ancestors emigrated to Germany, completed an apprenticeship as a saddler in his birthplace in Krefeld . From 1794 to 1814, however, Krefeld was, like the entire area on the left bank of the Rhine, annexed territory to France. By marrying the French Christine Pierrart in 1828 Hermès moved to Pont-Audemer , northwest of Paris, where he practiced his trade as a saddler. In 1837 he opened his first shop in Paris near the Madeleine , where he was able to rent an inexpensive shop in a prime location. It was a company that manufactured high-quality horse harnesses and bridles as well as saddles for horses from 1867 , which are still sold today. In that year (1867) Hermès also got the first medal at the Paris World Exhibition . Since people used horse-drawn carriages at that time, it was not uncommon for the affluent class to own several different carriages. For this clientele , Hermès offered high-quality equipment such as saddles and horse harnesses as well as accessories in the upper price segment.
Under the direction of Thierry's son, Charles-Émile Hermès (1835-1919), who headed the company after his father's death in 1878, the range was expanded to include high-priced suitcases and leather bags from the beginning of the 1890s , also because the railroad and over time, the car displaced the horse-drawn carriages from the streets. In 1880 - after years of urban redesign of Paris by Georges-Eugène Haussmann - the Hermès company moved to the elegant Parisian Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré no. 24, since then the company's headquarters . The building, which had initially been rented, was later bought by Charles-Émiles son Émile Maurice Hermès (1871-1951). On a trip to Russia , Hermès was appointed official purveyor to the court by the tsar . Handbags were first introduced from the 1920s. The excellent craftsmanship, the luxurious materials and their long durability quickly made Hermès products known throughout Europe. The company still makes its largest sales with leather goods.
Charles-Émile Hermès was followed by his sons Émile-Maurice and Adolphe as managing directors of the company at the beginning of the 20th century. During this time the company was called Hermès Frères (German: Hermès Brothers ). In 1951, Robert Dumas-Hermès (1898–1978), the son-in-law of Émile-Maurice Hermès, was the first married family member to head the company. In 1978 Robert's son Jean-Louis Dumas (1938-2010) took over the management of Hermès. From 2006 to 2013, Patrick Thomas, a non-family member and Hermès manager since 1989, was CEO of the company. Axel Dumas, great-grandson of Émile Hermès and member of the 6th generation of the Hermès family, has held this position since 2014. In 2003 he started at Hermès as an auditor for the Direction Financière d'Hermès International and later became Directeur Commercial France. In 2006, Axel Dumas was appointed Directeur Général of the Hermès jewelry division. In 2008 he was appointed Directeur Général for the entire Hermès leather goods division until he became Directeur Général des Opérations in 2011.
The typical orange-colored packaging ( cardboard boxes , shopping bags, hat boxes, etc.) and the logo of a horse-drawn carriage called Le Duc , which is driven by the passenger himself , were introduced in the 1950s. The first Hermès perfume , Eau d'Hermès , was launched in 1951 . With the classic Calèche for women, the perfume business was transferred to a subsidiary in 1961 . The men's fragrance Equipage followed in 1970 . Since then, numerous other fragrances for women and men or as unisex perfumes have been created. In the 1970s, however, the company's sales fell. Hermès had the image of a brand for wealthy, older women. Thanks to the efforts of Jean-Louis Dumas, however, the company was able to convert dwindling sales into rapidly increasing sales figures in the following years. Dumas rejuvenated and a. the collections, hired new designers, launched striking advertising campaigns, tied the suppliers to Hermès more closely, launched the watch business and pushed ahead with the expansion of the boutique network. In 1993 the Hermès company went public on the Paris Stock Exchange , with the Hermès family retaining 80% of the shares.
The Hermès Group has stakes in John Lobb (shoe manufacturer, France), Cristalleries de Saint-Louis (glass manufacturer, France), Puiforcat ( goldsmith , France), Perrin & Fils (fabric manufacturer, France), Vaucher manufacture , among others Fleurier (watch manufacturer, Switzerland), Natéber (dial manufacture, France) and Joseph Erard SA (case manufacturer, France). In 1976 the company took over the branch of the British made-to-measure shoemaker John Lobb in Paris and subsequently opened its own John Lobb branches, which still exist today - independently of the John Lobb headquarters in London .
In the 2010 financial year, Hermès achieved a net profit of EUR 422 million with sales of EUR 2.4 billion , an increase of 46% compared to the previous year. 2011 is the most successful business year in Hermès history to date: with sales of 2.84 billion euros, 594.3 million euros were earned. The reason given for the growth was an increased demand for Hermès products in all markets, especially in the USA and China . A possible withdrawal of the company from the stock exchange was raised in 2011. In 2013 a turnover of 3.75 billion and a profit of 1.21 billion euros was proven. In 2014 Hermès achieved sales of 4.11 billion euros.
Products
The men's travel bag, introduced in 1892 by Thierry's grandson, Émile-Maurice Hermès, is called Haut à Courroies , or HAC for short , because of its long handle . At the turn of the century, Hermès' first woolen blanket appeared under the name Rocabar , and from 1922 Hermès began producing leather belts that are still marked with a large "H" as a clasp on certain models . In the late 1920s were leather straps for wrist watches to its collection, and 1928 Hermes brought the aggregate in leather Ermeto - pocket watch in collaboration with the Swiss watchmaker Movado on the market. Since then, there have been other models in collaboration with other Hermès watch manufacturers. It was not until 1978 that La Montre Hermès SA was founded as its own watch manufacturer in Biel , Switzerland .
In the 1930s, a version of the men's travel bag for women designed by Robert Dumas, initially not very successful, was introduced as the Petit Sac Haut à Courroies , which was featured in 1956 by Princess Gracia Patricia of Monaco , better known as Grace Kelly , on a Life cover was carried. Since then, the model has been called Kelly Bag and is one of the company's best-known products. Another very popular model is the Birkin Bag from 1986. It is named after the actress Jane Birkin , who worked on the design of the bag after she happened to be on the plane next to Jean-Louis Dumas, then CEO of Hermès. Both bags are two of the company's best-selling models today, they come in different sizes, colors and materials, and they have helped make Hermès one of the most important luxury brands in the world today. A Hermès-Birkin costs - depending on the version - from 5,750 euros. It became one of the most sought-after fashion items in the world after its presence in the cult series Sex and the City .
The hand- printed silk scarves with motifs that often relate to equestrian sport are also famous . They have been made since 1937 and produced in Lyon. There are well over a thousand motifs of the so-called Carré Hermès , twelve new scarves are added every year. A Hermès silk scarf costs - depending on size and material - from 155 euros.
Since the introduction of the first men's fragrance, the Eau d'Hermès in 1951, the luxury label has launched new fragrance collections and beauty care series every year. After the classic Eau d'Hermès for men, in 1961 women were also able to envelop themselves for the first time in a high-priced fragrance from Hermès, the calèche. For men, fragrances such as Eau d'Hermès, Equipage, Bel Ami, Rocabar and Terre d'Hermès have appeared up to the present. Women's fragrances include the Jour d'Hermès, L'Ambre des Merveilles, Kelly Calèche, Calèche, 24 Faubourg and the Rouge Hermès.
Hermès cups played an important role in the popular Japanese television series Train Man - Densha Otoko . From the 1980s onwards, the porcelain and tableware division at Hermès was expanded.
In the mid-2000s, Eric Clapton had a Martin guitar case from Hermès made from the finest crocodile skin for $ 100,000 .
Fashion collections
A separate prêt-à-porter line for men has existed since 1976. A counterpart for women's fashion was added at the end of the 1980s . Hermès couture clothing had already been available from the late 1920s. In 1972, Hermès women's shoes were launched on the market for the first time. Men's shoes have been around since 1997. A design team was responsible for the modern women's collections - under the direction of the French Claude Brouet, ex-editor-in-chief of the French Marie Claire - from 1988 to 1997, including the later Bottega Veneta designer Tomas Maier belonged to. In 1997 the Belgian avant-garde designer Martin Margiela became the creative director of Hermès women's fashion. In 2004, the French designer Jean-Paul Gaultier , in whose own company the Hermès Group had a 45% stake on Jean-Louis Dumas' initiative from 1999 to 2011, took over responsibility for the women's line. For the autumn / winter 2011 collection, the former Lacoste designer Christophe Lemaire took over the management of the women's collection. In 2014 he resigned and handed over his position to the French Nadège Vanhee-Cybulski, a former Margiela and Céline designer and previous creative director of the Olsen twins ' fashion label The Row . The equally high-priced men's collection has been designed by Véronique Nichanian, a former designer for Nino Cerruti , since 1988 .
Boutiques
Hermès products are only available in Hermès boutiques, Hermès sales areas in upscale department stores, the company's own online shop or authorized specialist shops. Worldwide there are around 315 Hermès boutiques - some of them also as shop-in-shops in renowned department stores - including sixteen in Germany alone (with three duty-free shops at German airports ), two in Austria and ten in Switzerland .
LVMH
On October 23, 2010 the French LVMH Group announced that it had acquired a 14.2% stake in Hermès International through share purchases , which was subsequently increased to 17.1%. At the end of December 2010, LVMH stated that it already owned more than 20% of the shares and was therefore the main shareholder alongside the heirs of the Hermès family. The owner family Hermès, which holds almost three quarters of the shares in the company and viewed LVMH's entry as an attempted hostile takeover , had publicly asked LVMH boss Bernard Arnault to withdraw.
At the beginning of January 2011, the French stock exchange supervisory authority AMF allowed the Hermès heir family to bring their shares totaling 73% into a family holding company without - as is normally necessary - having to make a public takeover offer for the outstanding shares. The holding company named H51 was founded at the end of 2011. In it, 50.2% of the majority of Hermès' share capital, which belongs to 52 family members, is protected against a company takeover by third parties for a preliminary period of 20 years . Hermès announced that this was being done to " secure the Hermès culture permanently ."
LVMH's stake in Hermès was 22.28% at the end of 2011. In July 2013, the French stock exchange regulator sentenced the company LVMH, which had bought convertible bonds before 2010 in Hermès shares instead of cash, to eight million euros for disregarding the rules of the AMF. In autumn 2014, LVMH announced that the almost 23% stake in Hermès would be sold to its own shareholders with a profit of 2.4 billion euros. 8.5% of the Hermès shares remain in the hands of Groupe Arnault , Bernard Arnault's private holding.
Web links
- Hermès website (for customers with an online shop)
- Hermès International website (for investors with annual reports)
Individual evidence
- ↑ finance.hermes.com: The Executive Chairmen
- ↑ Hermès - a Krefeld conquers Paris , rp-online.de, January 19, 2011
- ↑ Note in: Icon Sports, supplement to Welt am Sonntag , May 2012 edition, p. 51
- ↑ Hermès increases profit by 46% , textilwirtschaft.de, March 4, 2011
- ↑ Fashion house Hermès increased profits in 2011 by over 40 percent ( page no longer available , search in web archives ), Yahoo! Germany Finance, March 22, 2012
- ↑ 2013: strong sales and earnings growth , finance.hermès.com
- ↑ Excellent year 2014 - Sales increased by 11% at constant exchange rates , finance.hermès.com, February 12, 2015
- ^ Gisbert L. Brunner : Les montres Hermés. In: watches, jewels, jewelry. No. 4, 1991, pp. 22-26.
- ↑ Hermès crocodile leather guitar case
- ^ Gaultier saddles , abendblatt.de, May 28, 2010
- ↑ "I make clothes, not fashion" , faz.net, November 25, 2008
- ↑ The woman who attracts men in FAZ of December 22, 2012, page C2
- ↑ LVMH increases Hermès stake from 17.1 to more than 20 percent , godmode-trader.de, December 22, 2010
- ^ Monsieur Luxe buys expensive bags , welt.de, November 3, 2010
- ↑ LVMH increases stake in Hermès to over 20 percent ( memento of January 15, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), stern.de, December 22, 2010
- ↑ Hermès wants to get rid of LVMH , faz.net, November 3, 2010
- ↑ Hermès secure before takeover of LVMH ( page no longer available , search in web archives ), fashionunited.de, January 10, 2011
- ↑ Hermès founds family holding ( Memento from January 15, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) ,wirtschaftsblatt.at, December 15, 2012
- ↑ The exchange supervisory authority gives Hermès the green light , textilwirtschaft.de, January 7, 2011
- ↑ LVMH is to pay a fine of millions , handelsblatt.com, July 1, 2013
- ↑ LVMH is gilding its Hermès share , n-tv.de, November 25, 2014
- ↑ The luxury fighters make peace , welt.de, September 3, 2014
- ↑ LVMH: Hermès shares bring in 2.4 billion euros ( memento from January 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ), textilwirtschaft.de, November 26, 2014