Hermes Handbags and Purses (Page 6)

We spent a day at RueLaLa last week to have a sneak peek of their upcoming and highly anticipated Hermes event. We were able to see all of the Hermes bags and accessories to share with you all before the sale on Tuesday.

One of the bags that caught my attention is this vintage Hermes 20cm Mini Kelly in grey ostrich. It was evident this bag had a story to tell. Without an exact marking, the bag is dated back to the 1960′s. It is said to be very rare and designed for a child to wear while her mother carried a larger Hermes Kelly (it will be part of the Tuesday sale).

We always say that handbags tell stories, but it is clear this one truly does. So take part in our Friday night story telling and tell the tale of the little girl that carried this mini Kelly. What did she look like, where was she from, what was her mom like? Paint the picture (and drool over the bag itself).

Remember to sign up for RueLaLa to shop the Hermes event on Tuesday!

Recession? What recession?

With Hermes set to report a 30% revenue increase for the third quarter, it’s not difficult to understand why LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault has such a keen interest in the company. According to Women’s Wear Daily, the increase centers on the success of the silk, leather and timepieces categories, which make up the backbone of the Hermes tradition and represent the company’s most sought-after products. All told, family representitives believe Hermes may be on track to have its most successful year in company history.

So not only has Hermes weathered bad economic times in a profitable, growth-minded way, but this report also makes it clear that the growth was not a coincidence or the result of a temporary tactic. Instead, it represents real consumer interest in the things that Hermes does best, which only portends more future growth and gains in market share for the French luxury giant.

WWD specifically mentions the success of the crossbody Jypsiere bag as being a cornerstone of Hermes’s continued growth, and giving fans of the brand a new bag to obsessively collect surely increases sales. With new creative director Christophe Lemaire scheduled to make his debut for Fall/Winter 2011, only time will tell what the company’s next handbag move will be. What would you like to see from Hermes in the future?

Source: Women’s Wear Daily.

If you’ve never seen the windows at an Hermes flagship store, I would highly recommend making it a priority if you’re ever in New York City, London or Paris. The brand’s designers and merchandisers go to great lengths to make the visual presentation of the store’s goods captivating and unique, and the Paris store at 24, Faubourg Saint Honoré in particular has seasonal windows that are the stuff of legend.

Hermes Window Design Director Leïla Menchari has done a nearly magical job of turning displays of handbags and silk scarves into fantastical dreamscapes that sit right at the intersection of art and commerce, season after season, for more than three decades. Hermes recently uploaded more than 50 photos of Menchari’s Paris windows to its Facebook page, and we’ve got our picks for the best after the jump.

As was widely reported last week, luxury giant LVMH now owns over 17% of competitor Hermes, and although the company has publicly stated that it has no plans to acquire more shares of the French family-owned company in the next six months, luxury watchers remain atwitter over what the future may hold for two of the world’s largest names in handbags after that time period expires.

Now that more of the story behind LVMH’s share purchases has emerged, Women’s Wear Daily reports that the company used a number of stealth maneuvers, including cash-settle equity swaps and use of several cannily named LVMH subsidiaries, to increase its stake in Hermes by over 14% without identifying itself as a competitor to Hermes brass. Seemingly adding insult to injury, LVMH notified Hermes of these developments only hours before releasing the information to the general public. So not only did Hermes not knowingly sell the shares to LVMH, but LVMH execs also seemed to be well aware that the family wouldn’t have sold, if given all the pertinent information.

Over the weekend, LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA, the world’s largest luxury goods conglomerate, announced that it would increase its share in family-owned leather giant Hermes 14.2%, to a total of 17.1% stock ownership.

LVMH, which owns such famous labels as Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs, Givenchy and Fendi, claims that it will not seek control of Hermes or board representation, but news of the sharp increase in the conglomerate’s ownership of the brand has many wondering if that will remain true for long. Luxury isn’t just a lifestyle, it’s also big business, and Hermes has been among the most profitable properties on the high-end mass market through the recent economic downturn.

Part of the Hermes allure for many clients stems from the fact that the Hermes family still runs the company, even in this day of corporate fashion and massive conglomeration. LVMH doesn’t just buy up shares of luxury brands for fun, and although owning a chunk of Hermes stock is certainly a strong bet in today’s luxury market, one can’t help but wonder about LVMH’s larger goals. Although the company’s spokespeople claim that LVMH merely has its sights on being a longterm Hermes stockholder, luxury watchers would be advised to take that with a proverbial grain of salt.

If LVMH purchased a controlling share in Hermes, would it change your feelings about or perception of either company?

Source: Business Week.

It has often seemed as though Jean Paul Gaultier’s favorite thing to do on the Hermes runway is riff on the classics that make the brand so iconic and successful, and Hermes Spring 2011, Gaultier’s swan song with the brand, was a horse-tastic, S&M-tinged ode to exactly those tendencies. The handbags mostly stayed clear of the psychosexual leanings of clothing, but that isn’t to say that they weren’t interesting.

If I told you that the bag to the left were actually made of real, honest-to-God crocodile, would you think I was lying? I wouldn’t blame you if you did, because I’ve never before encountered crocodile skin that I could see through, but Style.com seems to indicate that it’s the genuine article. From that to picnic basket and fanny pack Kellys and tiny Birkins hanging from cuff bracelets, it seems as though Gaultier had a fine time with his last trip through the Hermes accessory archives.

We’re sure to bring out the haters with this news, but hey, it’s Friday!