HERMES

The legendary French luxury goods house began as a saddle maker in Paris in 1880 under the name of Hermes–Freres. By the 20s Hermes had the patent for the zipper in France, and introduced the first ladies bags with zip closures. The company expanded into riding gloves, belts, and men and women's sportswear, and designed the now famous travel trunks to meet needs of the new automobile drivers. The infamous Kelly bag debuted in 1956 after Grace Kelly used a large crocodile handbag to hide her pregnancy. In the 1970s the first women's shoe collection and the first complete men's ready-to-wear collection were introduced. Actress Jane Birkin replaced her old straw purse with a leather Hermès number in 1984, and started the rage that is the Birkin bag. Today the Birkin remains to have the longest waiting list of any luxury accessory—about six years. In 2003 French designer Jean-Paul Gaultier joined the house as the women's ready-to-wear designer and debuted his first collection for Fall/Winter 2004–05.

The Hermes look is at the height of luxury, with a nod to the house’s equestrian heritage—sheared mink jackets, velvet jodhpurs, fringed blanket jackets, leather car coats, kilts. The accessories line has structured bags, belts with chunky hardware, signature printed silk scarves, and riding boots.