- Pierre-Alexis Dumas is a sixth-generation descendant in the luxury Hermès empire known for its Birkin and Kelly bags. He insists the handbags aren’t expensive, they’re just costly.
Forking out five figures for a handbag might seem an outrageous sum to many—but Hermès’s Pierre-Alexis Dumas insists there’s a difference between cost and expense.
Dumas is the artistic director of fashion house Hermès, known for its coveted handbags and silk scarves.
Dumas is also the sixth generation of his family tasked with leading the multibillion-dollar luxury empire—Dumas’s cousin Axel is CEO of the brand—and his father, Jean-Louis, was the man to design the iconic Birkin bag.
And despite prices for such pieces ranging from $9,000 to six figures at auction, Dumas insists they are not expensive.
“I always heard that Hermès is very costly,” Dumas told 60 Minutes in an episode released Sunday. “It’s not expensive, it’s costly. The cost is the actual price of making an object properly with the required level of attention so that you have an object of quality.
“Expensive is a product which is not delivering what it’s supposed to deliver, but you’ve paid quite a large amount of money for it, and then it betrays you—that’s expensive.”
The brand’s most famous products are not the only ones with hefty price tags: A jukebox is on sale for $334,000, a dog bowl costs $1,500, and a 32-centimeter-tall horse sculpture costs a little over $5,600.
Dumas says he can’t create on a budget to keep costs down, but he has the advantage of knowing the brand has built something of a cult since its inception in the late 1830s.
Hermès, now worth more than $240 billion, has built such a level of demand among customers, that some have even tried to sue the brand for not selling them bags.
Indeed, fashion influencers and experts have long attempted to decode the system of being “offered” an Hermès bag.
Some insist would-be buyers need to spend a certain amount per year to get onto a waiting list—and even then, they are only given the chance to create a “wish list.”
During this process, shoppers are offered the chance to sift through the vast range of leathers, hardware, and bag shapes and sizes to create their dream creation—though they’re not guaranteed to get it.
If a similar bag (even vaguely so) comes into the store, a sales associate may call the customer and offer the item to them.
Some influencers worry they might be “blacklisted” for rejecting Hermès bags that they don’t want—or will make a purchase in order not to be struck off the client base.
@amelia.liana did i make a huge mistake?😩 #comeshoppingwithme #hermesminikelly #hermes #hermesbleujean #hermesbag #hermesgame #hermeswishlist ♬ original sound - Amelia Liana
But Dumas insists that the exclusivity of such purchases isn’t deliberate, it’s simply a supply and demand issue.
“You have to be patient,” he said. “I have children, too, and I have desires, too, but I’m saying it’s a long process. You go to a store, you get an appointment, you meet a salesperson, you talk about what you want, it’s not available, you’ll have to wait, it’ll come back to you. It takes a long time, eventually it’s going to happen.”
Serendipity at Hermès
Like many of the best moments in business, some of Hermès’s most famous decisions arose out of serendipity.
The brand’s recognizable citrus color resulted from supply issues at the end of the Second World War.
“In 1946 there was shortage of everything,” Dumas said. “And when my great uncle went to see his supplier of paper [and] manufacturing boxes, the supplier said: ‘I’m sorry we don’t have that beige paper anymore because of the war and short supplies. I only have that roll of orange paper that nobody wants.’”
Similarly Dumas shared the story of how his father designed the Birkin after being placed next to actress Jane Birkin on a flight.
“She told him: ‘Well, let me tell you, I’m not happy about my bag. I want something more loose with bigger handles and ease and always open when I carry it.’ As she was talking—my father was very good at sketching—[it was] just an idea, you know?
“He said: ‘A bit something like that?’ And she said, ‘Yeah. That would be great.’”
