LORD OF THE BAGS

In recent years, the name Hermès has become synonymous with the Birkin, Constance and Kelly bags. For anyone in the know, the mere mention of these bags is sure to conjure up images of frenzied shoppers, queuing up around entire city blocks in a bid to obtain one of them.

Forget the luxury yacht and private jet; it’s all about bringing home the Birkin. Rumours surrounding these bags are legion. The waiting lists number in the thousands but, if you’re a good customer, you stand a better chance of getting one. To buy a Birkin at your whim and fancy, you do need to have Hollywood-level gravitas.

And, yet, for all the cult-status these bags enjoy, Hermès will admit this phenomenon is one it is unable to explain. Having been conceived several decades ago – with the Birkin in 1984; the Kelly in 1935 (it only became known by this name in 1956, following Grace Kelly’s 1955 romantic thriller To Catch a Thief) and the Constance in 1968 – it wasn’t until the 1990s that they became regarded as ‘must haves’ for bag lovers. Today, Hermès produces around 70,000 Birkin bags annually, with prices ranging from USD10,000 (MYR37,000) to USD150,000 (MYR555,000).

“No one believes us when we say this, but the success of our bags is truly a mysterious accident,” Florian Craen, Hermès’ Executive Vice President of Sales and Distribution, says with a cheeky grin that suggests the truth is otherwise. “But Hermès has always made beautiful products and, for some reason, one of these pieces may have its moment. It could be in that instant or decades later, we never truly know.”

It is in the story of these bags that one sees a mirror of Hermès’ history. Whilst the brand today is well known for its sprawling boutiques that are temples to all things luxurious, the Hermès back in the heyday of the 1800s was a humble hodgepodge of workshops and artisans crafting objects out of leather, crystal, porcelain, silk and fabrics. However, despite the transition into one of the leading companies in the USD250billion luxury goods market, one thing has remained constant in the Hermès DNA: its unwavering focus on quality and craftsmanship.

“Quality and craftsmanship are all we care about and, at Hermès, we like to say that a beautiful object has a sense of permanence to it and can endure through the generations,” says Craen. “If we were a marketing-driven company, we would have pulled those bags off the shelves after a few years of mediocre performance and come up with new ones instead.”

To conceive creations of such lasting beauty, Hermès has historically harnessed the talents of some of the greatest artisans from across various crafts, which count enamelling, guilloché and crystal-working among them. Such is the time and dedication required to master such skills that many of them are no longer even taught in conventional schools and, instead, rely on the few remaining grandmaster craftsmen handing them down to their chosen protégés for their continued existence.

In this regard, Hermès considers itself a curator, a guardian of sorts, of this precious pool of talents. “When you hold this knowledge, which includes skills that are 500 years old, in your hands, it is your responsibility to ensure they endure,” says Craen. “And the commercial success of Hermès has allowed these skills to, not only survive, but continuously improve through the generations.”

Whilst many of these skills are centuries old, Craen points out that “tradition” does not mean “old-fashioned”. In fact, Hermès was ranked 13 among Forbes’ ‘100 Most Innovative Companies’ in 2014 and was the leader of the three luxury-goods categorised companies in the entire list. “Our production process is contemporary and we’re always finding new materials and techniques to improve our products,” explains Craen. An example would be the brand’s line of travel bags, which incorporates lightweight yet durable materials such as nylon into their construction to ensure they are able to weather the rigours of international travel with style and grace.

Hermès is also pushing the boundaries in the online world, and has managed to retain the mystique so mired in its traditional roots, while engaging with an increasingly digital market. From its pop-up e-stores, quirky viral videos, smartphone apps such as Tie Break, and engaging presence on the various social media platforms, Hermès has swiftly established itself as a force to be reckoned with. “We are entering a new era and we are only in the first pages of a very long book,” Craen declares. “We must learn to connect differently with customers and engage them directly as well as indirectly.”

The physical stores will still be around but Craen says that the Hermès boutique needs to become a place of experience. “The boutique must go beyond the objects itself; there should be emotion, history and culture invoked by what one can touch, smell and see.”

Arguably, it is the dedication to traditional craftsmanship and ability to innovate that have allowed this 178-year-old brand to remain not only relevant, but also become the one to beat in an increasingly interconnected digital world. Hermès is still at the top of its game because it sells beautiful objects that can endure through the ages.