Founded by German-born Thierry Hermes in Paris in 1937, the brand originally started life as a harness and saddle maker. Having won awards for his high-quality and intricate designs, the company branched out in bags in 1900 – creating the Haut a Courroies bag designed for riders to carry their saddles with them.
Having gained even more kudos as a saddle maker by supplying the Russian emperor with saddles, the company was granted exclusive rights to use the newly invented zipper on its products, prompting it to create a range of zipper bags and zip up clothing. It was from this point that the company took off as a luxury fashion and accessories brand.
Expanding to the US in 1924, showing its first women’s couture collection in Paris in 1929 and then introducing its now iconic Hermès carrés – square silk scarves – in 1937, the company landed as a true global luxury brand. The adoption of its Sac à dépêches bu Grace Kelly – seeing Hermès’ legendary bag renamed the Kelly Bag – sealed its prominence.
Today, the scarves, Kelly Bags, Hermès riding jackets and trousers are classic outfits in French culture – a look and brand awareness that isn’t lost on the company’s Swiss customers. Here the brand does a brisk business. With many of its watches and some of its leather goods made in Switzerland it is as close as there is to a Swiss luxury fashion house and the company has nine flagship stores across the main cities of Laussane, Zurich, Gstaad, Lugano, Saint Moritz and Geneva.
Swiss consumers are attracted to the brand’s classic looks and iconic scarves and bags – as are shoppers the world over – with many older consumers in the market buying these items.
Online, Hermès carefully balances accessibility and exclusivity in its ecommerce platform. While most products, including leather goods, accessories and ready-to-wear items, are available online, iconic pieces such as the Birkin and Kelly Bags remain unavailable for purchase digitally, encouraging visits to physical stores.
The website, the company says, is designed to inspire dreams while offering practical services such as product availability checks and online exclusives.
And this atypical approach is working. The Group’s consolidated revenue amounted to €15.2 billion in 2024, up by 15% at constant exchange rates, with fourth quarter sales hitting a whopping €4bn – 18% above the previous year. Growth in Europe, excluding its main market of France was up 19%, with the French market itself growing 13%. The company’s biggest growth market is Japan, which grew 23% in 2024, way ahead of the 7% seen across the rest of Asia and the 15% in the Americas.
And, in case you are wondering, yes the company does still make saddles.
This is one of six profiles in the recently published Switzerland Luxury 2025 report, with FarFetch, Gucci, Hugo Boss, Longines and Rolex also studied.
As Switzerland holds a unique position within the global luxury sphere, the wider report delves deep into the intricacies of this market, providing a comprehensive analysis to understand what consumers expect and how retailers shine.
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