Hermès

Founded 1837 · Paris, France · Thierry Hermès

Hermès began making horse harnesses in 1837 and never stopped behaving like a saddlery: its perfumery is one of the few from a fashion house to have kept a perfumer on staff, and with Jean-Claude Ellena in the post it produced some of the most-cited compositions of recent decades.

History

Thierry Hermès opened a harness and saddlery workshop in Paris in 1837. The move to luggage and handbags came with the motor car, and the house survived the disappearance of its original market by turning the craft into a luxury object. Perfumery came late, and its decisive chapter began in 2004, when Hermès hired Jean-Claude Ellena as the house's exclusive perfumer — a role all but extinct in a trade that subcontracts to laboratories. Out of it came Un Jardin sur le Nil, Terre d'Hermès and the Hermessence collection. Christine Nagel succeeded him in 2016.

Iconic models

Terre d'Hermès (2006)
A mineral citrus with vetiver and flint. Among the most respected masculines there are.
Un Jardin sur le Nil (2005)
From Ellena's garden series: green mango and lotus, transparent and strange.
Hermessence collection (2004)
Its high perfumery line, in short runs and sold only in boutiques.

Worth knowing

Keeping a perfumer on staff is exceedingly rare: almost every fashion house commissions its formulas from outside laboratories. Hermès hired Jean-Claude Ellena exclusively for twelve years.