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The Hermès Myth
As previously mentioned, the brand has no marketing department and purposely shuns the use of marketing research to guide itself. Instead it relies on an internal “creative team” that handles seasonal campaigns and a “communications team” managing press releases. This perhaps runs in contrast to other major luxury brands actively using information gathered through consumer research and forecasting agencies to tailor their campaigns and outward communications. Their CEO famously emphasized how they “don’t have a policy of image” but a “policy of product” (Sherman, 2018). The Hermès object speaks for itself, as something that doesn’t require supplementary stories through carefully curated imagery in an effort to heighten the brand experience. The experience – for Hermès – is already embedded into the physical characteristics of the object, oozing an aura of painstaking artisanal contemplation. Hermès’ brand narrative is rooted in tradition, heritage, and craftsmanship: values that are undoubtedly antagonistic to the ephemeral nature of fashion. Nonchalance, or some sort of French arrogance are appropriate terms if one were to describe Hermès’ general attitude towards the laws of fashion, marketing, as well as their competition. It is well aware of its own status as the definite luxury fashion brand, partly achieved through various forms of anti-marketing, allowing a commercial freedom without the usual risk. Its appeal perhaps precisely lies in their deliberate shunning of the fashion formula and isolation from its nearest rivals.
If one was to describe Hermès overall aesthetic in a few words then, playful, humorous, and chique would undoubtedly cross the mind. Lively pictures exhibiting vibrant colors dominate the space on the screen. As one scrolls through its Instagram, a mood of positivity permeating the imagery is omnipresent, as if there is nothing to worry about. Values surrounding tradition and craftsmanship are visibly being maintained, albeit in a joyful tone, made clear through – for example - a general comical use of the emblematic horse, or the rather goofy showcase of an old workbench made out of clay. The models are in their late 20s, presenting us portraits of youth, but devoid of the vulgarity that tends to come with it, instead replaced with a playful sophistication that simultaneously gives off hints of typical Parisian pomposity. The garments and accessories remain unmistakably French, a careful blend of color, minimalism, and elegance, succeeding in conveying a balance between tradition and modern; au courant, without missing the enduring influence of its own history.
What perhaps embodies the brand’s general attitude to life, is a picture of two 28-something-year-old males waterskiing in €6000 Hermès suits. Here, luxury is not to be found in the garments, the yacht, nor the setting, but in the level of pleasure and unconcern only achievable by those sitting at the top of our hierarchies. The realm of Hermès is unbound from commonplace anxieties, providing a safe space, unconcerned with the pervasive worldly troubles; where joy and creativity are embraced and pushed to their limits.
Dumas noted that the brand neither “belongs to the world of luxury nor the world of fashion”, but instead emphasized that it’s a “family house that goes back six generations” and that they didn’t invent their craft, but are rather the “recipient of age-old tradition” while maintaining a “desire for excellence” (Anaya, 2014). Dumas tends to display an earnest distaste for PR and marketing schemes prevailing during these times. He thinks of it as a form of “cynicism attempting to manipulate people”. Here, he juxtaposes his own brand with the others, noting how everything Hermès produces instead stems from a sincere belief and has real internal meaning. The then head designer of Hermès expressed how the working culture is like something never seen before; a place where everybody works in a very cheerful way, and furthermore echoing how the product and creativity comes before any marketing (Anaya, 2014).
It is suggested that this same playfulness within their ways of working, coupled with the shunning of fashion’s and luxury’s conventions, is directly recognized by their customers. Hermès artistic director for women’s universe also notes how they don’t do marketing, emphasizing how the iconic scarf instead represents “the fantasy and humor of the brand”. One doesn’t need to read interviews or any form of secondary text to realize that fun and humor are the governing factors among their creatives, it becomes - as previously mentioned - instantly clear while scrolling through their social media pages. These values are taken to heart, and continuously reconceptualized in an effort to realize new creative expressions to add to their universe. There is something strikingly child-like and innocent about the brand’s aesthetic and demeanor; it both emanates and embraces senses of freedom, happiness, and general unconcern for its surroundings. The space seen in the image above serves as a visual embodiment of the brand’s expressive aesthetic vision, made possible through joyful and unrestrained forms of creativity.
Comparing Hermès with brands you would typically see mentioned in the same sentences, it becomes clear that the almost-200-year-old French house plays a different type of game. Both LV and Chanel perform a more “fashionable” spectacle, taking themselves more seriously, exhibiting aesthetics that – to a larger degree – attempt to adhere to current commercial trends and visual principles. Hermès’ Instagram page – contrastingly - hints at a creative team that is unconcerned with its environment, in which the internal high spirits instead are embraced, guiding a creation of the wildest ideas. The contrast becomes clear between the houses, in which LV and Chanel feel contrived in comparison. This is best exemplified by the (over)use of celebrities and calculated product placements using specific settings. LV appears to be more concerned with the production of an extravaganza aiming to instill particular meanings into its products. It is less about the objects but more about the fantasies.
Even if the brands rival each other, have historical similarities, and attract the same types of customers, it has become evident that LV has intensified its focus on the world of high fashion (and the runway) recently, made clear by their appointment of Virgil Abloh as creative director a few years back. Being a player in this marketplace demands strategic changes in order to deal with the speed and transitory nature of fashion, as well as keeping a steady finger on the pulse with regards to new cultural demands, hype, and trends. This marks the most apparent difference between the two houses. Hermès persists on its history, heritage, and the permanent allure of its iconic objects such as the previously presented Birkin and Kelly bag with the emphasis on craftsmanship as well as a calculated strategy of scarcity, while LV has slowly transformed into what many would consider as a through-and-through “fashion” brand.
Hermès plays the luxury game according to its own rules; not necessarily appealing to the latest aesthetic tastes or cultural demands. The French house has managed to achieve and retain its status as the second most valuable luxury brand in the world without a particularly responsive cultural strategy such as LV. It’s clear that Hermès chooses not to explicitly articulate its involvement with the latest cultural concerns and demands to the same extent compared to its peers. Arguments can be made that – historically - Hermès has leveraged its own brand assets following a commercial strategy that emphasized abstract values surrounding “Tradition”, “Craftsmanship”, “Longevity”, “Timelessness”, and “Parisian Sophistication”. Since its initial commercial uprise within fashion and accessories dating back to the 1930s and spanning until today, its objects have been worn by the most influential women in the world, a reality that allowed the Hermès object to be associated with cultural codes surrounding glamour, fame, affluence, and status.
Their products have been imbued with the type of ideology that entails the highest forms of exclusivity, only attainable with sufficient cultural and financial clout. The Hermès universe and aesthetic became embedded in and associated with society’s general visual idea of “glamour” and “fame”, brought to the masses through mediums such as cinema and advertising. Hermès’ earlier cultural innovations can be found in their transformation from a high-quality saddle maker into what it is today, through – for example – their emphasis on tradition, a value often resonating with the conservative elite, as well as exclusivity, providing objects that can only be obtained by the few.
The same ideology of exclusivity and tradition is still being upheld today through a variety of codes using social media platforms and physical retail spaces. The myth they create, and the cultural codes they communicate – through different today - still cater to those classes with sufficient financial means. This amount of money affords the option of societal isolation, an attitude of indifference, not having to care about current social, political, and environmental problems, and thereby making space for a lifestyle filled with carefree and boundless pleasure. It is perhaps precisely this type of pleasure they are attempting to capture and emulate through their cultural codes. What then becomes of the archetypal Hermès customer is an affluent hedonist with enough cultural consciousness to appreciate the brand’s narrative and the type of life it is referring to.
In order to make sense of Hermès PR decisions today, one has to look to and be aware of the social disruptions that have taken place in recent times. The demands on fashion companies with regards to sustainability, transparency, and authenticity, as a result of environmental and social concerns on a global scale, functions as a key example. Another social issue that has seeped into the industry is that of “Black Lives Matter” (BLM), urging brands to include more people of color in their runway shows and editorials. Brands that do not comply run the risk of facing a flood criticism, endangering their reputation and – as a result – profit. Both of these social disruptions open up pathways for new ideological expressions. Tendencies towards new cultural demands can often be found within various subcultures, as well as different forms of media (Holt & Cameron 2012). It is up to a brand to interpret these and find a way to enact upon them through a creative play on its own narrative and already existing brand assets. Deliberating a suitable course for Hermès future, will therefore require an assessment of the brand’s current commercial positioning and cultural brand assets, in order to perceive how they could be leveraged in this changing landscape. This also calls for an exploration into what the brand has done most recently with regards to prevalent cultural demands such as those mentioned before.
The brand has an entire section designated on their website to display their devotion to social and environmental issues, divided into smaller segments such as: “Sustainable Development”, and “Inclusion” (Hermès, 2020). These types of proclamations are certainly not uncommon among brands within the fashion and luxury sector. Hermès does - however - succeed in joining together a fundamental component of their brand narrative with a specific social problem. In other words, the brand taps into a particular cultural expression (in this case: “Sustainable Development”) utilizing their own brand assets that comprise convictions such as “Tradition”, “Longevity”, “Authenticity”, “Natural resources”, etc. According to its own webpage, its “action for sustainable development is founded on values passed down through generations by artisans”.
It furthermore takes us through a set of videoclips that immerse the viewer into several domains of the Hermès universe. Maintaining a purposeful atmosphere of melancholia and calmness, each of them explore themes surrounding intimacy, tradition, authenticity, and longevity.
“Every time I see a Kelly bag, I see my mother… When I heard that a bag had been abandoned, that idea saddened me. The depth of its color, its little scuff marks, all of that, for me, brings back memories, and it comes back to life. As if my mother were there, standing by and protecting me” (Hermès, 2020).
Hermès’ quest for longevity and authenticity is best portrayed in a six-minute clip passing through a glimpse of the life of a Japanese woman who inherited her mother’s Kelly bag. It meditates on love, the people we miss, and how we - through objects - are able to preserve the aura of those who are no longer among us. It recounts how objects are imbued with meaningful life memories, preserving the spirit of those we miss. Here, the Hermès bag still holds the spirit of her mother. The clip expresses several personal and cultural values: love between our relatives, the sentimental essence of objects, longevity, authenticity, and even sustainability. It stimulates our personal desire for a more intimate relationship with the things we use, and our cultural desire for more sustainable ways of living, in which objects are nurtured and repaired instead of discarded. The clip simultaneously details how the bag went through a repairing process with the help of Hermès artisans after it passed down to the daughter. The core message is that the Hermès bag is eternal, as a physical object because it can always be repaired, and as a sign, in that it defies the ephemeral nature of fashion. The brand succeeds here in providing a cultural expression (sustainability and authenticity) through their own myth that is rooted in tradition and craftsmanship.