Thursday, August 16, 2007

Hermès


If you feel like doing a little shopping while in Paris, why not stop by one of the most prestigious stores in the world, Hermès. It is also one of the most expensive with handbags going for up to $100,000! The horse on top of the HQ - that I never noticed until very recently! - is the logo for the company which has it's roots in the original product, horse saddles! Founded in 1837 by Thierry Hermès, it is still 80% family-owned (and still makes saddles!).

20 comments:

  1. Vanity Fair has a nice article about this store, also a pictorial on Brazil.

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  2. When we were in Paris, I didn't venture inside, just drooled at the window, but we have recently gained a Hermes store in Vanc'r and I've bought perfume there -- the fabulous Terre D'Hermes, surprisingly reasonable. I saved the iconic orange bag and then when I gave a friend a scarf I'd knit for her, I teased her by putting it in the Hermes bag -- a budget version of the Hermes scarf! She's a Paris-ophile as well and recognized the bag right away.

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  3. I love to go into Hermes and look at all the gorgeous merchandise!! I especially love their Paris themed scarves and enamel bracelets.

    Isn't this also where Oprah got p.o.'d because they wouldn't let her in after closing hours to do some private shopping?

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  4. The horse is cool, but $100,000 for a hand-bag? Damn! You could feed a small country for that price!

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  5. For those interested, there is a story on the house of Hermès in the September issue of Vanity Fair,
    FROM HERMÈS TO ETERNITY:
    http://www.vanityfair.com/magazine/toc/2007/toc200709
    The full story should be available online soon.

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  6. Thanks Anonymous. I don't know why I don't read Vogue, but I find it very good. Social pressure?

    As for the horse Eric, I've walked by it a million times, but never paid much attention to it. Thanks.

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  7. mmm if i could go in there, i would!

    Oh and i love Vanity Fair too. Favourite mag though is by far Tatler. Give it a try, Michael, actually really humorous stuff.

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  8. Thanks for being so nice and still posting photos while you are on vacation. I can still get my daily fix. I love Hermes. When I come to Paris in the Spring - I'll be there for sure but I'll have to stick to the scarfs - those handbags are way out of my budget!

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  9. Yes, Pont Girl, it is the place where Oprah...

    Bags inside the store go up to $100,000, but consider the $140,000 one-of-a-kind pink crocodile Birkin bag with diamond hardware that was sold in one day when the Hermes Palm Beach Store opened this past February!!! There are other exclusively made Birkin bags that even top this amount. BTW, all these famous Birkin bags are named after the French singer/songwriter Jane Birkin. And the Kelly bag, nicknamed of course, after you know who. Now I may have this knowledge, but certainly not the budget. I can't even afford Hermes beach bags. :)

    Bonne journee tout le monde.

    Loraine

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  10. Ah, the clever Eric, such nonchalance. Many do not know that Eric was the model for this horse soldier. His royalties ever since have financed his fabled traveling adventures and, yes, PDP. So, now you all know.

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  11. Well Jeff, if this is true, then I want this photo on a black T-shirt and I'll "Zazzle" it away. :)

    Loraine

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  12. The Vanity Fair article mentions the Oprah incident. Katrina happened later that summer and I wonder if that played a role in her acceptance of the store's apology. This administration's (non)handling of Katrina was a million times worse than her personal "Crash" moment and probably put things into perspective.

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  13. There is absolutely nothing comparable to the silk in an Hermes scarf--even a vintage one found at a garage sale! Eric, you will love Sarasota, I am in Tampa a little bit north, although it is very hot right now. Have a wonderful vacation.

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  14. Like most, I appreciate luxury. Yet the examples of these $100,000+ handbags reminds me that the word's root are in "lechery" and "excess".

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  15. Every celebrity needs a reality check now and then. I guess Oprah got hers when she went shopping there at closing time. Oh, well.

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  16. Aren't Hermès scarves the ones Meryl Streep's character in The Devil Wears Prada had a compulsion for?

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  17. I don't remember that, Monica, but that was a cute movie though! They seem to have shot on location in Paris towards the end of the movies. You can recognize some of the monuments relatively easily (Place de la Concorde, among others). Cute story! :)

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  18. How Hermés was changed for me. I swear, who wants to brave the scrum of Faubourg Saint-Honoré the week before Christmas. Hermés takes on an air closer to Filene's Basement in Boston, then its staid old self. But I was late as usual, with my Xmas shopping which consists of something for one aged relative, and she is a devil to buy for. As health had recently curtailed her yearly stops in Paris, I thought right away of the scarf.

    I stomped right in, shaking off umbrella and unbuttoning the overcoat so as to impress the inspectors disguised as greeters at the door, that I meant business. It was three deep at the scarf counter and although the crowd looked at least as intent on business, I used my bulk like an icebreaker, rising up and falling down between the weakest looking link. I was in, and had, apparently, impressed one of the equal sized crush of salespeople on the other side of the counter. I knew what I wanted, my aged relative was very into lace making, and some years back lace making had been a theme in the scarves. My salesperson, surprised to find I knew what I wanted, actually made a serious attempt to find any of this long outdated line, with no luck. But while she was searching, I espied a perfectly nice scarf that seemed different then most. When my crestfallen salesperson returned from her search, she explained that the scarf I was admiring was a preview from next years line (2007), so just like Brigham Young, I exclaimed "this is it!". Fine, but feeling right chuffed with my prowess, I thought I would push my luck to see if there might be something a middle aged, single gentleman could enjoy, because if you are a middle aged, single gentleman, and you don't buy yourself an Xmas present, well.... So I instructed them to wrap the scarf and went off looking.

    At Christmas time, Hermés hires on an army, and I found myself assigned to one of the most beautiful and natural young women I had seen in years. She was not one to be aware of herself this way, and seemed a bit lost and out of her element. She seemed so happy to accompany me through the hundreds of possible ties (as I don't ride, there is not much of Hermés that speaks to me) that the process of finding the one that is now my favorite, became fun. She was way too young for the likes of me, but she was so unaffected and honestly charming that I fell in love deeply, transforming the haughty and mostly useless Hermés into a spot of warm remembrance that I think kindly of whenever in the neighborhood.

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  19. Tomate it seems in the movie (and book) it was one of her trend marks, Hermès scarves! I love the final part of the movie where it shows many parisian places all lit up at night!

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