The entrance of Hermès on Rue de Sèvres, Paris, is quite understated. Except for a tiny logo and bamboo-themed windows, one can almost miss it. This location was a public swimming pool from 1935 to 1975, after which it was abandoned. In 2007 Hermes took over, renovated the place, and opened its doors in 2010.
One walks through the ground floor and is met with a heart-stopping view of what once was the swimming pool on the lower floor. Gigantic “huts,” inspired by La Hütte Royale in the National Museum of Rwanda, rise above the tiles and are lit up by natural light from a glass ceiling. The walls, which used to be the pool’s dressing rooms, display a mural of the major role that horses play in human history.
This store, which welcomes 2,000 to 3,000 customers on regular Saturdays and 6,000 people on Saturdays in December, has the largest display of La Maison products — china, crystal, cutlery, furniture, wallpaper, curtains.
It is the only Hermès store that has a restaurant, aptly called Le Plongeoir (diving board), a book display of architecture and fashion books, and of course, two floors of products.
It has a permanent display of Petit H, an idea of artistic director Madame Pascale Mussard, sixth generation member of the family. (Since 1836 and until today, Hermes is still family-owned.) Petit H recycles cuttings from materials of Hermès, and transforms these into totally different products. It is recycling elevated to an art form, combining material and knowhow by artists and artisans, breathing a second life into them. On display are necklaces made from silk scarves, another bag from the cuttings of a Birkin 25, leather bracelets, stuffed animals, and many more. The Petit H display is changed every six weeks.
Hermès Horizons handles the design of the interiors of boats, cars, private jets — even bicycles!
Of course, the rest of the Rue de Sèvres store has a magnificent display of scarves, perfume, jewelry, apparel, and saddles.
Even if the raw materials come from other parts of the world, handcrafting is completely done in France. Silks are made in Lyon, porcelain in Limoges, leather in several ateliers in Paris. Artisans and the products are the stars. Hermès prefers to locate artisans in small villages and not in factories.
Hermès has a leather school for artisans. Apprentices each have a “parent,” an artisan/mentor under whom they train for two years. An apprentice is called an artisan only after 10 years of experience. There are no assembly lines. An artisan makes one bag from start to finish, and discreetly signs it. One Birkin bag will take him 30 to 35 hours to make.
Now we know why timelessness costs so much.