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Left: Laurent Dordet. Middle: the Hermes H08. Right: The Faubourg Polka.
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TIME
In conversation with Laurent Dordet, CEO, Hermès Horloger.
In the aftermath of last April’s Watches & Wonders event in Geneva, PASHION talks with Laurent Dordet, CEO of Hermès Horloger. Today a key player in the fine watch making industry, the famous French luxury house unveiled it’s latest creations, the Hermès H08, the Faubourg Polka, The Slim d’Hermès C’est la fête and the Arceau Pocket Aaaaargh! Withstanding time, Laurent Dordet shares his vision and strategy on the evolution of Hermès time pieces. Q: What are your strategies to weather the challenges caused by financial crisis and pandemic? A: As per the figures the group just disclosed Hermès did quite well as the first quarter of 2021 confirmed the acceleration in sales in the group’s stores, with a strong growth of +51% compared to 2020, and of +41% compared to the first quarter of 2019. In case of watch-making we even topped the 2020 numbers. Sales increased by 96% in the first quarter, reflecting the house’s technical watch- making expertise and creativity of the collections. In general the Hermès business model is extremely resilient, because it’s all about craftsmanship, know-how and creativity. When hard 86
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times come, not only in 2020, but in the years before, in 2009, Hermès is resilient because it’s a brand that offers reassurance through its authentic values. It gives customers reassurance and grows loyalty and makes him/her quite eager to continue buying Hermès. But apart from this, our watch collection has developed in the past five years and we are really moving up market. More refined, more precious, more complex and offering more ready-to-wear models for men and women. So the products have been the cause of growth even though 2020 was very crazy. And you will see that in one month, our figures of 2021 were even with better results. It is also important to notice that Hermès has been very inventive in retail, especially to maintain and develop some new links between the store and the final customer, developing a lot of special services and special releases. We invite customers to our factory, the boutiques inviting three to five customers under very safe conditions. Each country has its own developed agility and new practices of retail, which were accelerated in 2020, and definitely will benefit Hermès in the months to come in growing new customers, enriching customer’s experiences and enhancing
