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The Battle for Hermès

by habituallychic

09 . 06 . 11
While preparing for the hurricane last weekend, you might have missed excellent article, The Battle for Hermès in the Wall Street Journal.  For those of you who don’t know, Bernard Arnault, the owner of LVMH, has been buying up shares of Hermès in an attempt to add the venerable brand to his stable of luxury goods companies that includes Louis Vuitton, Fendi, and Givenchy among others.  While I like LVMH brands, they seems to be a lot of more glitzy and glam than the understated luxury of Hermès.  It will definitely be interesting to see how this new French revolution plays out.  The feature was written by Dana Thomas, the author of Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster and I love the accompanying photos by Brigitte Lacombe.  Also makes me want to take riding lessons so I can order a saddle.  They are almost more beautiful than the bags.

Photos by Brigitte Lacombe

11 Comments
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  1. Lauren Christine September 6, 2011 | 1:23 am

    An interesting transition that is underway. Thank you for this post, educational, interesting, and good to know!
    xx
    Golden White Décor

  2. Filia Artis September 6, 2011 | 3:58 am

    I second your notion about the saddles being the best item in the world of Hermes. I spent much time visiting the single Hermes saddle on display in Toronto in the Bloor St. store. Probably a bit too luxurious for my current equine mount though…

  3. karin September 6, 2011 | 1:04 pm

    Super interesting, I´ve learned something knew about this luxury brand,I didn´t know about the saddles either!! Love the pictures too.www.stylepicture.blogspot.com

  4. annie September 6, 2011 | 1:36 pm

    This is very interesting and educational. It will be fascinating to see how it plays out.

  5. ArchitectDesign™ September 6, 2011 | 2:03 pm

    I read this article last weekend and it was fascinating! The best part was however seeing the private offices -so beautiful. I loved the rooftop garden off the main office with grass and trees!!

  6. Christina September 6, 2011 | 4:33 pm

    Heather, designer question: Just looking at this last photo of the office painted in dark green. The office in my new house is a similar colour, but it makes the room look like a tomb. What is it about this room and ones similar to it that makes them look good rather than just plain dark? I’m wondering whether the problem in mine is lack of natural lighting and zero architectural interest?

  7. roseandthistle September 6, 2011 | 4:57 pm

    I’ve thought this was an interesting situation for a while too; I love the traditions of Hermès and LVMH is so huge I can’t help but think it’ll get ‘glitzified’ if they end up in charge… The saddles are so beautiful, however if I spent that much money on a gorgeous saddle there would be no way it would be put on a horse 🙂 Too nice to get dirty!

  8. Monique Boyer September 6, 2011 | 7:44 pm

    Hermes is craftsmanship and excellence as its best. Hermes is what France is known for “timeless elegance.”

  9. Fashion-isha September 6, 2011 | 10:11 pm

    Very interesting post. I love Hermes…nothing’s classier!
    xo
    Sharon
    http://www.fashion-isha.com

  10. Sis Cesspool September 7, 2011 | 8:46 am

    I am a huge fan of Dana Thomas simply for the fact that she had the guts to write what she wrote. Luxury rarely exits any more except for the uber-rich. Gone are the days where you would accompany your mother downtown to purchase a special object that you would cherish for a long time to come. Now, everything seems to be made (or partially made) in China so it loses its cache.

  11. Sis Cesspool September 7, 2011 | 8:52 am

    Good for Dana. I have always loved the fact that she actually bit the hand that fed her by exposing the shoddy and ridiculous tactics of the “luxury” goods market. Gone are the days where going downtown to choose a special object that would be cherished forever and passed through the family.