Hermès

Hermès is a French house founded in Paris in 1837, when Thierry Hermès opened a workshop making harnesses and saddlery for horses [3]. From that founding trade it grew into a luxury goods company spanning leather, silk, watches and, since the mid-twentieth century, perfume and beauty. The company remains independent and family-controlled, listed on Euronext Paris as a component of the CAC 40, and is headquartered at 24 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré in Paris.

Within the beauty world, Hermès is known first for fragrance — a business it formalised in the late 1940s — and, since 2020, for a colour cosmetics and complexion range marketed as Hermès Beauty. The company describes itself as a house of "contemporary artisans since 1837," faithful to an artisanal model in which, as it puts it, "everything comes from creation" [1].

The company traces to Thierry Hermès, born on 10 January 1801 in Crefeld — a town in modern-day Germany that was then under the French First Republic [3]. He settled in Paris and, in 1837, opened his first workshop at 56 rue Basse-du-Rempart. The business specialised in harnesses described as "sturdy, comfortable and streamlined," which Thierry developed after observing that poorly sized harnesses hampered the movement of working horses. He won awards for his designs at the 1867 Universal Exhibition, and the company received a gold medal at the 1878 Universal Exhibition.

The founder's German birthplace and the company's French origin are sometimes conflated; both the brand and Wikipedia record the company as founded in 1837 in Paris [1][2], with Crefeld noted only as Thierry Hermès' place of birth.

Over the nineteenth and twentieth centuries the house moved from saddlery into the leather goods, silk and accessories for which it became widely known, relocating to the Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré address in 1880. Its fragrance business began in earnest after the Second World War: the perfume operation was formalised through the Comptoir Nouveau de la Parfumerie in 1947, and the first fragrance, Eau d'Hermès, was created by perfumer Edmond Roudnitska and produced in 1951. Early women's scents followed, including Calèche in 1961.

The role of in-house perfumer became central to the brand's olfactory identity. Jean-Claude Ellena served as exclusive perfumer from 2004 to 2016 and created several of the house's best-sellers, among them Un jardin en Méditerranée, Terre d'Hermès and the Hermessences line. Christine Nagel, who had joined in 2014, succeeded him as the brand's olfactory designer in 2016.

In 2020 Hermès launched beauty as its sixteenth business line, beginning with the Rouge Hermès lipstick collection. The range then expanded into brushes and nail colour in 2021, complexion products in 2022, and the Regard eye-makeup collection in 2023 [2].

Hermès is an independent, family-owned company. It is listed on Euronext Paris and is a CAC 40 component, but control rests with the founding family, organised into three branches — the Dumas, Guerrand and Puech cousins — united within the H51 holding company, which Wikipedia records as holding roughly two-thirds of the company. That control was reinforced after 2010, when LVMH built a stake of about 17 percent and the family formed the H51 holding in response [2]. Leadership has stayed largely within the family: Axel Dumas, a sixth-generation family member, has served as executive chairman since 2013.

Hermès frames itself around craftsmanship and longevity rather than image. The company describes its identity through "the freedom to create, the constant quest for beautiful materials, the transmission of exceptional know-how" and what it calls the "aesthetics of function" — details designed with use in mind, in the service of "objects designed to last" [1]. It says it keeps the majority of its production in France, across a network it cites as 63 production and training sites.

The brand presents beauty as a continuation of that same approach rather than a departure. Announcing the beauty line, executive chairman Axel Dumas said: "Beauty is part of who we are: a house where everything comes from creation, driven by artisans who seek to accompany the men and women of today with elegance" [5]. Beauty creation director Gregoris Pyrpylis later framed the products as deliberately approachable, saying he dislikes "intimidating products" and that the idea behind Hermès beauty is for "women and men to take ownership" of them [6]. The company positioned its 2020 move into colour cosmetics as a natural extension of its existing fragrance business.

In fragrance, the house's catalogue includes Eau d'Hermès, Calèche, Terre d'Hermès, Un jardin en Méditerranée and the Hermessences line. Perfume production is carried out at Le Vaudreuil in Normandy.

The makeup line launched in March 2020 with Rouge Hermès, a collection of 24 lipstick shades in matte and satin finishes, designed by Pierre Hardy, the house's creative director for jewellery and shoes. The lipsticks were built around refillable metal cases with permabrass hardware, intended, Hardy said, to be "as luxe as possible," and constructed to be refilled "time and time again" [4]. The brand has emphasised the cases' hand-assembled, plastic-free and rechargeable construction as a point of design. According to Refinery29, the lipstick formula uses natural ingredients such as beeswax to help retain moisture.

In 2022 Hermès Beauty introduced the Plein Air Natural Balancing Complexion Balms, alongside glow and matte powders, beginning in France [6]. The complexion line was reported to span 12 balm shades, each said to suit three skin tones, and to bridge makeup and skincare using white mulberry extract for antioxidant benefit. The beauty products are distributed through Hermès boutiques and online; at launch the lipstick collection was available across 35 countries.

In 2021 the Farm Transparency Project released footage from three Australian crocodile farms owned by Hermès, alleging conditions such as small cages and concrete floors and slaughter methods including stabbing and electrocution [2]. The matter concerned the company's leather goods rather than its beauty line.

Hermès remains active and is one of the larger publicly listed luxury companies, reporting revenue of €15.17 billion for 2024 [2]. Its beauty métier has continued to expand since launch, most recently with the 2023 Regard eye collection, and its products are sold globally through boutiques and online.