Hermès has sixteen product divisions that encompassed leather, scarves, ties, men's wear, women's wear, perfume, watches, stationery, footwear, gloves, enamelware, decorative arts, tableware, beauty, and jewellery. The company licenses no products and keeps tight control over the design and manufacture of its vast inventory. According to
Vogue: "Jane Birkin 'is satisfied by the measures taken by Hermès', according to the brand, following an investigation by the fashion house [that refuted] claims made by
PETA that its famous Birkin bags were being 'constructed from the skins of factory-farmed and cruelly slaughtered crocodiles.' " File:Kelly Bag.jpg|A
Kelly bag File:Hermes Ostrich Birkin Bag.jpg|Exotic leathers of the bags make them highly valuable and noticeable,
e.g., ostrich leather File:Hermes Birkin.JPG|A
Birkin bag While the Kelly and Birkin are two of the house's most famous bags, Hermès has a wide range of other popular handbags. One, the bolide is a dome-shaped carry-all that comes in varying sizes with a leather shoulder strap. It is widely recognized as the first handbag that was constructed with a zipper. The bolide comes in both stiff leathers, such as Epsom, and relaxed leathers, such as Clemence. Clemence leather is sometimes referred to as Bianca leather - a particular grain that originates from France. Another popular bag from the Hermès house is the Evelyne, a comparatively affordable saddle-style bag meant to be worn cross-body with a traditional fabric strap. The evelyne is available in 4 different sizes: the TPM (16 cm), PM (29 cm), GM (33 cm)and TGM (40 cm) and is generally made in relaxed leathers like clemence. The evelyne boasts a perforated "H" motif that is meant to be hidden and worn towards the body, to allow easy access to the top of the bag. Hermès operate on a wishlist system for these items around the world as they are coveted and highly sought after. In 2021, the Farm Transparency Project released video footage from three Australian crocodile farms owned by Hermès, which showed the small cages and concrete floors the animals live on and how they are slaughtered, including by stabbing and electrocution.
Clothing and accessories Ready-to-wear department was born at Hermès in the 1920s-1930s, initially with
sportswear, with the first menswear, a leather golf jacket, created for Duke of Windsor, Edward the VIII, in 1925. When production first began, a dedicated factory was established in
Lyon, France, the same year that Hermès celebrated its 100th anniversary. Contemporary Hermès
carrés measure , weigh , and are woven from the silk of 300
mulberry moth cocoons., the
Galop d’Hermès (2019), designed by
Ini Archibong with numerals created by
type designer Vincent Sauvaire, the men's
Hermès H08 line, launched in 2021. From the 2000s onwards, Hermès acquired stakes in several watchmaking companies, as in 2006 with a 25% stake in Vaucher manufacture for 25 million
Swiss francs, already a supplier of
movements for the Hermès house, with an investment of around sixteen million euros. In 2020, the group launched its sixteenth business,
beauty, with a
lipstick collection named
Rouge Hermès and inspired by its
carré de soie. ==Strategy and know-how==