"The luxury industry is built on a paradox: the more desirable a brand becomes, the more it sells. But the more it sells, the less desirable it becomes. I believe Hermès's vision provides a solution to this dilemma." — Patrick Thomas, former Hermès CEO
Ben Gilbert & David Rosenthal, on the episode
Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal spent nearly a year researching Hermès for this episode of Acquired, recording it almost exactly one year after their LVMH episode first sparked their obsession with the brand. Hermès was founded in Paris in 1837 by Thierry Hermès, a German orphan who became the finest harness maker in France, and has remained under continuous family control for six generations. Where most luxury brands have folded into conglomerates, chased fashion cycles, or outsourced production, Hermès has done the opposite at every turn, building a $200 billion business on the premise that craft is the product. The episode traces the company from its origins in horse-drawn carriage culture through Napoleon III's modernization of Paris, two world wars, the Kelly and Birkin bags, the Bernard Arnault takeover attempt, and the current generation's strategy of scaling handcraft through trade schools and 31 ateliers across France.
Tactic 01
Ben Gilbert & David Rosenthal, Acquired
Build The Business Around The Craft, Not The Other Way Around
The play
Protect your craft standard while still running the business for clients.
Ben Gilbert & David Rosenthal says
This is not a museum there is this artistic element to what we do but we are not a museum we are a business and we have clients. The saddle stitch creates an incredibly strong interlocking mechanism by pulling both threads through in opposite directions. The only way to unravel something saddle stitched is to individually go through and cut every single stitch. Any one of their production sites does not have more than 250 to 300 craft people.
Try this
Identify the one non-negotiable production or quality constraint in your business and check today's decisions against it.
