Thierry Hermès

About

French businessman who founded the luxury design house Hermès International and acquired the title as a fashion house designer.

Before Fame

The business soon went from harnesses and saddles to trunks, handbags, and zippers. He lost his family due to disease and moved to Paris as an orphan in 1821. 

Trivia

He built his business on the strength of a stitch that could only be done by hand. The saddle stitch was completed when two needles worked two waxed linen threads in tensile opposition. When the car came along, his son Emile-Maurice acquired a two-year patent for the company's zipper, which was known as the "Hermès Fastener." Once the zipper was introduced, the clothing era was transformed.

Family Life

He was born in 1801 in Krefeld, Germany, which at the time was part of Napoleon's empire, giving him French citizenship. His father Thierry Hermès came from France and his mother Agnese Kuhnen came from Germany. They were innkeepers. After his death in 1878, his son and grandsons Charles-Emile Hermès, Adolphe Hermès, and Emile-Maurice continued to run the family business.

Associated With

In the 1930s, Hermès International launched several items that became classics, including the large crocodile handbag known later as the Kelly, named for Grace Kelly. Another was the Birkin, named after actress Jane Birkin.