For six generations, Hermès has been an independent, family-owned, artisanal, creative, innovative and responsible French house. While designing timeless and durable objects, it seeks to safeguard, pass on and develop its know-how and exceptional skills in line with its human values rooted in craftsmanship.
An independent house
Supported by a family-based shareholding structure, the house’s independence testifies to the solidity of its artisanal model. This dynamism drives the house forwards in keeping with its focus on transmission, sustainability and human values. The group’s entry into the CAC 40 index in June 2018 and the Euro Stoxx 50 in December 2021 confirmed this entrepreneurial spirit. Since 2013, Axel Dumas, CEO and sixth-generation member of the founding family, has driven the vision of Hermès’ international and multi-local development.
A house that creates social value
As a responsible company, Hermès demonstrates its attachment to creating social value that promotes sustainable growth both in France and abroad. This is manifested collectively by job creation. Between 2022 and 2024, over 7,000 people joined the company, including almost 4,300 in France.
Faithful to its commitment to being a socially responsible employer, social value is also created at an individual level, with annual profit-sharing and incentive schemes benefiting all staff in France, as well as with free share plans. Since 2007, six free share plans have been implemented, and at the end of 2024, 70% of Hermès employees had become shareholders. Hermès thus demonstrates its commitment to sharing the fruits of its growth with the men and women who contribute to it through their everyday work.
An entrepreneurial spirit at the heart of Hermès
Since 1837, an entrepreneurial spirit has guided Hermès in all aspects of its development. It is illustrated by the creative freedom and abundance that operate within its sixteen métiers, and by its constant capacity for innovation combined with exceptional know-how that the house seeks to safeguard, pass on and develop. Its integrated production, preserved or consolidated by acquisitions, and its long-term relationships with partners make the Hermès model unique.
In concrete terms, the company works sustainably in the regions and alongside the communities in which its operations are anchored.
This spirit also operates through an international network of stores, each of which embodies a unique dialogue with local culture.
In close proximity to their customers across the world, the store directors thus have the freedom to make their own selection of objects from the house’s métiers to be presented in their store. This multi-local approach allows Hermès to meet the specific requirements of its customers with a different purchasing experience in each region.
Six generations of artisans
Since 1837, generation after generation, Hermès has followed a dual thread – on the one hand the painstaking work of the craftsman in his workshop, and on the other the lifestyles of its customers.
Explore Hermès history through key dates