HERMÈS

Hermès is a French luxury fashion house with 14 product divisions encompassing leather, scarves, ties, menswear, women's fashion, perfume, watches, stationery, footwear, gloves, enamel, art of living, tableware, and jewelry. Renowned in the fashion world for its excellence in workmanship, and first class service it is recognized by its Duke carriage with horse logo and orange branding color.

Established as a saddle shop in Paris, France in 1837 by Thiery Hermès, the company still continues to implement its traditional techniques into its creations. Recognized clientele of Hermès include: Sarah Jessica Parker, Hillary Clinton, Nicole Kidman, Elizabeth Hurley and Madonna.

Hermès competitors include Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Chanel and Christian Dior.

Hermès silk scarf
After 100 years of existence, the Carré Hermès was introduced with a dedicated scarf factory established in Lyon, France. Featuring a print of white-wigged ladies playing a popular period game, these custom-made accessories scarves were named Jeu des Ombinus et Dames Blanches. Hermès oversaw the production of its scarves from beginning till end: purchasing raw Chinese silk, spinning it into yarn, and weaving it into fabric twice as strong and heavy than most scarves on market. Hermès scarf designers would spend years creating new prints (individually screen-printed with vegetable dye). Each added color would be allowed a month to dry during the process of its creation before the next was applied.

The square silk scarf is known to be a symbol of French culture with men and women frequently wearing it in the streets of Paris, Bordeaux or Cannes.

The company's scarves are known to be precious collectables reselling in the $1,200 range. Some find themselves even made into pillows or otherwise as framed wall-hangings. Famous lovers of the Hermès silk scarves include Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Grace Kelly of Monaco, actress Audrey Hepburn, Catherine Deneuve, and Jacqueline Bouvier Onassis.

Hermès silk

Silk and Textiles are Hermès’ third-largest sector, accounting for 12% of Group sales. In 2007, sales of carrés, ties and scarves totalled €193 million, up 16% at constant exchange rates.The modern Hermès scarf measures 90cm x 90cm, weighs 65 grams and is made of twill 14 silk. All Hermès scarves are hand-printed using multiple silk screens and the hems are all hand rolled and stitched. Forty-three is the highest number of screens used for one scarf to date, one screen for each color on the scarf. Scarf motives generally feature equestrian motifs, travel destinations (a limited edition was made for the Dubai, Burj Al Arab Hotel in 2008) as well as other symbols of prestige, like coats of arms, banners, and military insignia.

Two scarf collections per year are released, along with re-prints of vintage designs and limited editions. Since 1937, Hermès has produced over 2,500 designs, with the horse motif ones being particularly famous and popular. Production of scarves has ranged from 250,000 in 1978, to 500,000 in 1986, to 1.2 million in 1989. It is said that during the holiday season in the Paris locations, one scarf is sold at a rate of about 20 seconds.

The per-pound cost of a scarf today is approximately $1,965.00 USD (compared to a pound of steel at $0.19). New scarves retail at $375 in the United States and €265 in France.

Hermes Stores

EUROPE
FRANCE: Avignon, Aix-en-Provence, Beaulieu sur Mer, Biarritz, Bordeaux, Cannes, Courchevel, Deauville, Dijon, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Montpellier, Metz, Megère, Nice, Paris Faubourg Saint-Honoré, Paris George-V, Paris Hotel Hilton, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Rennes, Rouen, Saint-Tropez, Strasbourg, Toulouse, Tours.

GREAT BRITAIN: Glasgow, Manchester, London.

IRELAND: Dublin.

PORTUGAL: Lisbon.

SPAIN: Marbella, Barcelona, Valencia, Madrid.

MONACO: Monte-Carlo.

SWITZERLAND: Geneva, Lauzanne, Gstaad, Crans, Bern, Basel, Zurich, Saint-Moritz, Lugano.

LUXEMBOURG: Luxembourg

BELGIUM: Brussels, Antwerp, Knokke le Zoute.

NETHERLAND: Amsterdam

DENMARK: Copenhague

SWEDEN: Stockholm

GERMANY: Munich, Stuttgart, Baden Baden, Nuremberg, Mannheim, Frankfurt, Dusseldorf, Cologne, Dortmund, Bielefeld, Hannover, Berlin, Hambourg, Kampen Sylt.

CZECH REPUBLIC: Prague

AUSTRIA: Slazburg, Vienna.

ITALY: Varmese, Courmayeur, Milan, Turin, Brescia, Udine, Venice, Padua, Parma, Bologna, Gensa, Portofino, Rome, Naples, Florence, Bari, Pesaro, Capri, Palermo.

GREECE: Athens

TURKEY: Istanboul

RUSSIA: Moscow

AMERICA
USA: Boston, Westport, New York, King of Prussia, Vienna, Cleveland, Chicago, Charlotte, Atlanta, Palm Beach, Bal Harbour, Naples, Houston, Dallas, Las Vegas, Beverly Hills, Costa Mesa, San Francisco, Hawai. 

DESIGNERS

	Hermes		Pucci		Versace
	Dior		Casol		Ferragamo
	Valentino		Cartier		Fendi
	Missoni		Gucci		Vuitton