Hermès news and archive

The 10 million dollar bag: Original Birkin smashes records at Paris auction

The first-ever Birkin bag designed by French luxury brand Hermes for celebrity Jane Birkin sold for 8.58 million euros (10 million dollars) at a Sotheby's auction in Paris on Thursday, smashing previous price records for a handbag. The modern design classic, owned by a well-known Paris-based handbag collector, sparked a telephone bidding war up...

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Hermès expands watchmaking factory in Switzerland despite sector decline

More powerful than ever with 15.2 billion euros in revenue in 2024, Hermès announced on Monday its plans to expand its watchmaking factory in Le Noirmont, Switzerland. This expansion is set to eventually accommodate one hundred new employees, a move that comes despite the company witnessing a drop in its watchmaking segment sales in 2024. By...

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Hermès heirs top French fortune ranking in 2025, dethroning Arnault

Paris - The Hermès heirs benefited from the luxury group's strong stock market performance in 2025. This allowed them to take the top spot in the annual ranking of French professional fortunes. The ranking was published on Wednesday by Challenges magazine. They dethroned Bernard Arnault and his family. Since the start of 2025, Hermès has shown...

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PFW: Hermès imagines urban summer, KidSuper creates a fairytale and Ziggy Chen lightens with linen

Paris – Faced with the sweltering heat in Europe, French fashion house Hermès proposed a lightweight style for men spending summer in the city on Saturday; trousers were favoured over shorts, with clever designs to combat the heat. Trousers and a jacket made of finely braided leather strips, reminiscent of a summer chair, were a particular...

Fashion

Sotheby’s to auction off Jane Birkin’s original Hermès Birkin bag

Auction house Sotheby’s is putting Jane Birkin’s original Hermès Birkin bag up for sale as part of its first ‘Fashion Icons’ lot. The bag, typically known to be “The Original Birkin”, is a black leather prototype featuring design elements “that set it apart from every Birkin that followed”, Sotheby’s said, including a stamp with the initials...

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Hermès begins work on new leather goods site in northern France

Luxury group Hermès announced that it has started work on its 26th leather goods workshop in Charleville-Mézières, in the Ardennes region of France. This is part of Hermès’ development plan for manufacturing centres across France; the company also announced the creation of leather goods workshops in Colombelles (Normandy), L'Isle d'Espagnac...

Retail

First ever Birkin bag to be auctioned in July

The first Birkin bag that was designed by French luxury brand Hermes for actress Jane Birkin in 1984, will be auctioned in Paris on July 10, auction house Sotheby's said Thursday. The large black leather tote, whose design went on to become one of the most famous and expensive bags in the world, will be the centrepiece of the "Fashion Icons"...

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Hermès to open factory in France in 2027

Luxury group Hermès has started work on the Beyrand factory, a subsidiary of the group since 2017. The site will open in 2027, in Couzeix, France (Haute-Vienne), and will be dedicated to tableware. In approximately two years, 300 people will come to work in the town of Couzeix. They will be working at the new Beyrand factory. Among the technical...

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Environmental objectives of luxury groups: Who is aiming for what?

By 2040, Chanel is expected to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions across its entire value chain. With this goal, the company aligns itself with the Paris Agreement signed in 2015, which aims in particular to keep global warming well below 2°C compared to pre-industrial levels by 2100. But what about the other luxury giants? FashionUnited...

Fashion

PETA attends Hermès meeting, calls for vegan bags; Dumas speaks of ‘ethical farms’

“When will Hermès ban wild animal skins and embrace ethical luxury by launching vegan Birkin and Kelly bags?” This was the question that PETA, which owns shares in the French company, put to chief executive officer Axel Dumas on April 30, during Hermès’s general meeting. “The action follows PETA's new DIY video on YouTube, which has garnered...

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Hermès to form an Artificial Intelligence Governance Committee

Data, retail tools, automation of logistics processes, and decision-making support are the main areas in which Hermès uses artificial intelligence (AI). The Parisian group, questioned by a shareholder ahead of the general meeting held in the French capital on Wednesday, April 30, discussed its relationship with AI and future developments. “AI is...

Fashion

America’s resale market poised to gain amid tariffs

As the U.S. administration ramps up tariffs on imported goods, the fallout for global fashion is already becoming apparent. From European luxury houses to Chinese fast fashion giants, industry players are bracing for squeezed margins, disrupted supply chains, and dampened demand from increasingly cost-conscious American consumers. The new wave...