• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
SuccessHermes International
Europe

Hermès is nearly 200 years old—but its relentless growth makes it ‘an old lady with startup issues,’ its artistic director says

Prarthana Prakash
By
Prarthana Prakash
Prarthana Prakash
Europe Business News Reporter
Down Arrow Button Icon
Prarthana Prakash
By
Prarthana Prakash
Prarthana Prakash
Europe Business News Reporter
Down Arrow Button Icon
March 28, 2025, 2:07 AM ET
Hermes store on Bond Street on 28th August 2024 in London
You can’t expect to walk into an Hermès and buy anything you want. There’s a reason for this, the company says.Mike Kemp—In Pictures/Getty Images

Hermès has long held a special place in luxury-seekers’ eyes as one of the most elite brands from which to own bags and scarves. Its popularity has been no secret—still, in the past decade, sales have popped 226%, taking the brand to new heights. 

Recommended Video

With that sort of boom, particularly amid a recent slowdown in the luxury industry, it’s hard to think of Hermès as just a dusty old company that’s been around for nearly two centuries. 

Instead, it’s best thought of as somewhat of a startup, said Pierre-Alexis Dumas, the French company’s artistic director and sixth-generation Hermès heir.

“I always like to say that Hermès is an old lady with startup issues because we’ve grown so fast in such a small period,” Dumas said during a CBS News 60 Minutes episode released in December. “How can you grow so fast without changing what makes you strong?”

There are several ways in which Hermès is doing things differently than its competitors, such as prioritizing quality over quantity. That’s why, Dumas said, even if Hermès bags come with a price tag of over $10,000, it’s for a justifiable reason. 

“Speed is the structuring value of the 20th century,“ he said. 

“We went from horse carriages to the internet. Are we going to be so obsessed with speed and immediate satisfaction? Maybe not? Maybe there is another form of relation to the world, which is linked to patience, to taking the time to make things right.”

Pierre-Alexis Dumas pictures in 2020.
Pierre-Alexis Dumas pictured in 2020.
Pascal Le Segretain—Getty Images

The Hermès formula is unlike that of its rivals, but it has worked. Its 2014 sales were €4.1 billion, and by 2023, those figures had swelled to €13.4 billion. The company’s shares have risen 284% in the past five years. 

Hermès’s journey has been so spectacular that it’s spawned millionaires among the founding family’s distant relatives. Dumas has been with the French bagmaker for nearly two decades, presiding over the recent growth wave.

Few others have been able to replicate Hermès’s success in maintaining a loyal client base among the affluent while remaining relatively low-key. For instance, the company doesn’t have a marketing department. Yet demand for iconic Hermès bags has consistently outstripped supply—a phenomenon that has unintentionally added to the French company’s allure.

Scaling new heights: Hermès style

A single craftsperson works on a bag, which can take at least five years of training and several hours to make. That automatically creates scarcity as Hermès produces fewer bags than mass-produced brands, which, in turn, pushes prices upward. 

Some critics have raised issues about the bagmaker creating artificial scarcity. But Dumas pushes back on this idea.

“It makes me smile that this is a diabolical marketing idea. That can only come out of people obsessed with marketing,” he said. “Whatever we have, we put on the shelf, and it goes.”

The company has been looking to train more artisans to help quench a seemingly insatiable thirst for Hermès bags. 

Another criticism of Hermès’s model is how shoppers can’t simply walk into a store and expect to buy a Birkin. They must work their way up with a proven purchase history of other Hermès items before they can see their most sought-after bags worth thousands of dollars.

A few shoppers have recently rallied together to sue Hermès for deliberately making it difficult to buy its top-tier products, even if people are willing to pay the money for them. 

So far, that case hasn’t yielded consumers any success, as a U.S. judge said during a hearing last year that “Hermès can run its business any way it wants. If it chooses to make five Birkin bags a year and charge a million [for] them, it can do that.”

Despite Hermès’s methodical approach to bag-making, the sixth generation of the founding family has also sought to learn from their ancestors’ mistakes. 

“I don’t want to be like my predecessors in the family, that is to say, to die in office,” Axel Dumas, the executive chairman of Hermès, told the Financial Times in September when speaking about succession planning. “The risk is falling in love with what one has made, and not being able to change. At some point, you need fresh eyes.”

Representatives at Hermès did not immediately return Fortune’s request for comment.

A version of this story originally published on Fortune.com on Dec. 17, 2024.

Join us at the Fortune Workplace Innovation Summit May 19–20, 2026, in Atlanta. The next era of workplace innovation is here—and the old playbook is being rewritten. At this exclusive, high-energy event, the world’s most innovative leaders will convene to explore how AI, humanity, and strategy converge to redefine, again, the future of work. Register now.
About the Author
Prarthana Prakash
By Prarthana PrakashEurope Business News Reporter
LinkedIn icon

Prarthana Prakash was a Europe business reporter at Fortune.

See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Success

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Success
  • Tech
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Environment
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Health
  • Retail
  • Lifestyle
  • Politics
  • Newsletters
  • Magazine
  • Features
  • Commentary
  • Mpw
  • CEO Initiative
  • Conferences
  • Personal Finance
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map

Latest in Success

walz
PoliticsMinnesota
Walz in the wilderness: from future VP to unemployed in just a few years
By Steve Karnowski and The Associated PressJanuary 7, 2026
7 hours ago
Ted Sarandos
Successlifestyle
Netflix co-CEO says he doesn’t read business books—instead, he reads one 1902 novella about a ship and its captain ‘over and over again’
By Preston ForeJanuary 7, 2026
7 hours ago
Lonely young woman in office
SuccessWorkplace Wellness
Lonely staff at a major pharmacy chain are being paid $100 to take time off and text a friend—welcome to Sweden’s ‘friendship hour’
By Emma BurleighJanuary 7, 2026
7 hours ago
fraser
CommentaryLeadership
The 7 most overlooked CEOs in 2025—and the 5 to watch in 2026
By Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and Stephen HenriquesJanuary 7, 2026
10 hours ago
SuccessThe Interview Playbook
The curveball questions CEOs are asking job seekers amid Gen Z’s hiring nightmare: ‘Design a car for a deaf person’
By Orianna Rosa RoyleJanuary 7, 2026
13 hours ago
christian klein
CommentarySoftware
The most honest prediction for 2026: nobody knows what’s next
By Christian KleinJanuary 7, 2026
13 hours ago

Most Popular

placeholder alt text
Law
Amazon is cutting checks to millions of customers as part of a $2.5 billion FTC settlement. Here's who qualifies and how to get paid
By Sydney LakeJanuary 6, 2026
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Economy
Mark Cuban on the $38 trillion national debt and the absurdity of U.S. healthcare: we wouldn't pay for potato chips like this
By Nick LichtenbergJanuary 6, 2026
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Personal Finance
Janet Yellen warns the $38 trillion national debt is testing a red line economists have feared for decades
By Eva RoytburgJanuary 5, 2026
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Future of Work
'Employers are increasingly turning to degree and GPA' in hiring: Recruiters retreat from ‘talent is everywhere,’ double down on top colleges
By Jake AngeloJanuary 6, 2026
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Success
The college-to-office path is dead: CEO of the world’s biggest recruiter says Gen Z grads need to consider trade and hospitality jobs that don't even require degrees
By Orianna Rosa RoyleJanuary 6, 2026
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Success
Blackstone exec says elite Ivy League degrees aren’t good enough—new analysts need to 'work harder' and be nice 
By Ashley LutzJanuary 5, 2026
2 days ago

© 2025 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.