Hermès Keeps Its Promise

On July 9, Hermès announced it will reveal its first haute couture collection at Paris Haute Couture Week next January. The line will be designed by Nadège Vanhée, artistic director of women’s ready-to-wear.

 

Nadège Vanhée, artistic director of women's ready-to-wear at Hermès

 

Hermès’ move into haute couture is more than just adding a new product line. It is a major step to confirm its place at the very top of the luxury world.

 

During the brand’s annual earnings press conference late last January, CEO Axel Dumas confirmed that Hermès would enter haute couture. He shared that the brand was already setting up a couture workshop in Paris, with Nadège Vanhée leading the creative side of the business.

 

At the time, Dumas explained that haute couture gives Hermès a fresh way to express itself. He noted it is a perfect way to show off the brand’s incredible craftsmanship while drawing in top-tier clients. "What interests us in haute couture is the craftsmanship. We already have a very, very high standard and incredible leather quality, and we thought, ‘why not?’" he said.

 

Right now, the global luxury market is under pressure, and many brands are finding it hard to keep growing by appealing to the masses. Deciding to go against this trend and enter the exclusive world of haute couture was clearly a well-thought-out choice for Hermès.

 

Hermès Cruise 2027

 

First, this move marks a huge shift in the brand’s identity and business.

 

For a brand that built its global fame on leather goods and saddlery, starting a couture line is not a casual experiment. In the traditional fashion system, leather goods are often seen simply as "accessories" with a focus on function. Because of this, a brand only truly changes from a leather goods maker to a full fashion house when it enters haute couture—the top of dressmaking.

 

In the fashion industry, this kind of shift is a big deal. It shows a brand can do more than make perfect objects, it can also shape style, silhouette, and fashion culture. This gives the brand the highest level of influence in the fashion world.

 

History shows many successful examples of this shift, with Louis Vuitton being the most famous.

 

Before 1997, Louis Vuitton was known only for its luggage. It wasn't until American designer Marc Jacobs joined that the brand started its own ready-to-wear line. Over the last ten years or so, Nicolas Ghesquière has kept improving the brand’s womenswear, helping Louis Vuitton truly become a fashion house. This secured its strong influence in global pop culture and the fashion industry. Loewe and Bottega Veneta are similar examples.

 

Louis Vuitton Fall/Winter 2026 Ready-to-Wear

 

Second, stepping into haute couture helps Hermès offer more types of products. This allows the brand to grow past its limits and please its increasingly demanding wealthy clients.

 

Haute couture is always seen as the crown jewel of fashion. A single piece of handmade couture gown can take hundreds of hours to make and easily cost hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars. For Hermès, which already sells super-classic items, turning into a fashion house through couture makes perfect business sense.

 

On one hand, Hermès’ core customers are very loyal. They are willing to wait months or even years to buy a bag that costs tens of thousands of dollars. Starting a couture line gives these rich clients a brand-new, highly private, and exclusive way to shop.

 

Hermès isn't just selling a custom piece of clothing, it is taking the luxury experience it built with leather goods and moving it to fashion. The custom fitting process is a status symbol. By being part of more areas of a customer's life, the brand builds a deeper, long-term bond with its most important asset: its wealthy buyers.

 

On the other hand, many fashion brands are currently losing their special appeal because they are trying to sell to everyone. Hermès is doing the opposite by entering the highly exclusive couture market. This easily sets Hermès far apart from other brands and builds a strong moat around its business.

 

Also, when Hermès releases its first couture collection next year, its quiet, long-running rivalry with Chanel will reach a new level. Chanel has always been the clear leader in haute couture. Using its strong couture history and aggressive price increases on bags, Chanel has been trying to match or beat Hermès in terms of high prices and rare products.

 

Chanel Fall/Winter 2027 Haute Couture

 

Now, with its own couture line, Hermès will fight Chanel directly in Chanel's strongest area. But this fight isn't really about craftsmanship or style. It is a fierce battle for the time and money of a very small group of the world's richest shoppers.

 

In terms of size, the two brands are very close. Hermès made 16 billion euros in the 2025 fiscal year, while Chanel made 19.3 billion US dollars (about 16.8 billion euros) in the same year.

 

It is easy to see that as Hermès adds couture to its business, the fight between these two giants at the very top of the market will heat up fast.

 

Hermès’ big push into couture right now comes from brand confidence, but it is also backed by strong sales in its ready-to-wear division. Numbers show that Hermès' high-end ready-to-wear and accessories business has kept growing in recent years. Last year, this area brought in 4.5 billion euros, making up nearly a third of the group's total sales. Back in 2020, this number was only 1.4 billion euros.

 

In just a few years, the ready-to-wear business has doubled in size. This proves to the market that Hermès can sell a complete lifestyle to its target clients, not just bags. The success of the ready-to-wear line directly builds a base of customers ready for haute couture. When clothing buyers want something more special than standard products, moving up to custom couture is the natural next step.

 

From launching its beauty line in 2020 to growing its fine jewelry and luxury watch businesses, Hermès is actively trying to rely less on just selling leather goods. By offering more types of products, the brand protects itself from market ups and downs. At the same time, the steady growth and cash flow from its leather goods give Hermès the strong financial backing needed for a couture line, which takes a long time to pay off.

 

Hermès H08 Squelette watch launched at this year's Watches and Wonders

 

Hermès’ move into haute couture is not just about making a new type of product. It is the ultimate fight to define what luxury truly means.

 

Soon, the world's richest shoppers will not just wait for a Birkin, they’ll be waiting for bespoke Hermès couture bearing their names.

 

Translated from Chinese by Hua Li